On Property Tax Cap Vote, Sununu And Ayotte Are A Yes, While Pappas And Warmington Are No Comment

By Michael Graham, NH Journal

When Granite Staters go to the polls on Nov. 3, they’ll have a chance to vote to cap local property taxes and potentially provide some relief to New Hampshire homeowners.

That includes the candidates who are also on the ballot, like U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas and John Sununu in the U.S. Senate race and Gov. Kelly Ayotte and Cinde Warmington running for governor.

How do they plan to vote on the property tax cap?

“Yes, I’ll be voting for it,” Sununu told NHJournal. He’s also been talking up the tax cap issue as part of the overall GOP message in the November election.

Ayotte is also an enthusiastic “yes.”

“New Hampshire is at its best when we are putting decision-making power in the hands of the people, which is why I signed a law to give people in our state another opportunity to weigh in on their local property taxes,” Ayotte said. “I will be voting yes on the property tax cap question on November 3, and I encourage Granite Staters to join me in making their voices heard.”

Their Democratic opponents, on the other hand, are a no comment on the question. Pappas declined to respond to multiple queries on whether he will vote for or against the tax cap.

From Cinde Warmington’s Citizens Count page

The same is true of Warmington, who has campaigned for governor promising lower property taxes but has not said if she would vote to cap them in her community. She also declined to respond to repeated questions.

She also declined to answer the Citizens Count survey question about a school district tax cap mandate, while responding to questions about climate and abortion.

Under the legislation passed by the GOP-controlled legislature and signed by Ayotte, voters in November will decide whether to adopt limits on local school property tax increases, capping them at the rate of inflation plus new taxable property growth. There is no spending cap other than a specific cap on central office administrative spending, which would be limited to 6% of the combined school district budgets, excluding qualifying bonded capital costs.

Property taxes are one of the top issues for New Hampshire voters as the cost of living continues to rise. Education property taxes are the main driver and a key reason the Granite State ranks fifth — or higher — in average property tax expenses.

During his appearance on WMUR’s “Conversation with the Candidate” this weekend, an audience member asked Sununu what he would do to make housing more affordable for young couples. His answer included the property tax cap.

“On the ballot this November, we’ve got a property tax cap. It caps property taxes in your town to the rate of inflation plus growth, but caps them at a reasonable level. Obviously, property taxes are a big part of the cost of housing in New Hampshire.”

There is no public record of Pappas ever mentioning the property tax cap, for or against.

However, early in his political career, Pappas was a vocal proponent of several local tax increases.

In a Dec. 15, 2005, newspaper column, Pappas argued that Granite Staters “have been brainwashed to think that an income or sales tax (or even gambling) would take away some of the freedom we enjoy.”

An earlier statement is even more explicit. As a state representative candidate in 2002, Pappas outlined this education financing proposal in a candidate survey:

“Dramatically lower state property taxes, increase cigarette taxes, expand gambling at state racetracks, and implement either a low-rate sales or income tax.”

Pappas has since said he opposes any broad-based sales or income taxes.

When it comes to keeping silent on the upcoming tax cap vote, Pappas and Warmington are not alone. NHJournal reached out to all state Senate candidates and asked how they intend to vote on the cap. For Republicans, all of whom voted to pass the original legislation, it was an easy “yes.”

All eight incumbent Democrats, who voted against the bill, declined to respond.

Rep. Ross Berry, R-Weare, one of the House leaders on the property tax cap, says Democrats are answering the question—by refusing to answer.

“They can hide from the question, but we know how they’re voting. Democrats have the same answer for everything: more taxes,” Berry said.

“If these Democrats plan to vote against capping their constituents’ property taxes, they should stop hiding and say so.”

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.