New Hampshire Supreme Court Unanimously Clears Way For School Budget Cap Question

By GARRY RAYNO, InDepthNH.org, InDepth NH

CONCORD, NH — The final hurdle to a school budget cap question going before voters in November was cleared Monday.

The state Supreme Court rejected an attempt by advocates for barring the question from the November ballot for the court to take original jurisdiction of the case.

The unanimous decision of the four justices ends the quest of two New Hampshire parents to keep the question off the general election ballot.

State election officials are now free to begin printing ballots and mailing ballots to overseas state residents.

The plaintiffs claimed the question is misleading, including using inaccurate information, confusing language and likely unconstitutional.

The plaintiffs failed to convince a superior court of their accusations, and unsuccessfully sought an emergency temporary injunction blocking the printing of the ballots to the Supreme Court before Monday’s decision.

The plaintiffs, Kelly Wieser of Campton and David Bates of Warner, originally sought an emergency injunction earlier the month to block Secretary of State David Scanlan from putting the question on general election ballots.

The question asks voters to cap school budgets to the rate of inflation plus new construction, to cap school administrative budget increases to six percent of the district’s budget, and to exclude capital costs from the calculations.

A three-fifth vote is necessary to institute a cap.

The controversial House Bill 1300 passed the legislature with almost all Republican support and was signed into law by GOP Gov. Kelly Ayotte in June.

Although New Hampshire is not a referendum state, the back-door attempt at that comes after almost all school districts who had budget cap proposals on their warrants this spring and last saw them defeated. One school district voted to study a budget cap last year.

The language that would appear on the general election ballot is:

“Shall the [name of municipality] limit property tax growth for [name(s) of school district(s)] under RSA 32:5-i? If adopted for a two-year period: (1) the local property tax levy may not grow beyond the prior year’s amount, adjusted for inflation and new construction; (2) SAU central office spending may not exceed 6 percent of total school district appropriations; and (3) bonded capital costs are excluded from both limits. These caps apply only to administrative operations of the SAU central office and do not affect classroom instruction, school-based services, or other municipal expenditures. These limits may be overridden as provided in RSA 32:5-i. Adoption requires a three-fifths (3/5) majority vote.”

After voters rejected every school budget cap put before voters in 2025, Republicans tried unsuccessfully to introduce a statewide school budget cap in the legislative session.

House Majority Leader Jason Osborne, R-Auburn, said after a very lopsided Kearsarge Regional School District vote against a proposed budget cap, “Perhaps, if (local voters) are unwilling to cap themselves, the state will step in and cap local taxes for them.”

This past legislative session the Republican leadership supported HB 1300 which went through a number of changes before it was approved after a conference committee worked out differences between House and Senate versions and over the objection of educators, school officials and local budget writers.

Under HB 1300, the question would be on the general election ballot for both the 2026 and 2028 general elections.

Supporters of the bill argued that more voters need to decide if a budget cap is necessary as a smaller number and those with “special interests” determine school district warrant articles.

Turning out voters who want to cap their property taxes is also a Republican get-out-the-vote strategy to entice voters not likely to vote in general elections, to also vote for Republican candidates on the ballot as well as the cap.

Garry Rayno may be reached at garry.rayno@yahoo.com.

This story was originally published by InDepth NH.