Mooney: The Truth About State Spending And Merrimack Taxpayers

By Maureen Mooney, NH Journal

As a division chair on the House Finance Committee, my job is to look closely at the ledger, follow the numbers, and help deliver clear, honest answers to our community.

Unfortunately, some financial facts are used to create confusion instead of clarity.

This election cycle, the word “downshifting” is being tossed around to describe moving costs and responsibilities from the state to our town. But if you look at the actual financial figures coming out of Concord, that claim is not accurate. In reality, the state has stepped up to support Merrimack.

Consider state education funding. Merrimack now receives more than $16 million every year in direct education aid from the state. In fact, that is more than double the amount of state education support delivered to our town when Democrats controlled the legislature. Statewide, New Hampshire now invests more than $1 billion annually in public education.

On top of that, state leaders have returned more than $12.782 million directly to Merrimack through meals and rooms tax revenue sharing, helping ease the burden on local homeowners. And, as a reminder, Merrimack’s per-pupil funding is above the state average.

The 2025-26 New Hampshire legislature is fulfilling its promise to our community. When critics say the state needs to spend more, what they really mean is that they want an income tax. One of the first votes of 2026, supported by the Democratic caucus, was to pass an income tax (House Vote 2, 2026).

Since then, that same Democratic caucus has voted for proposals that would have imposed $3.98 billion in tax hikes. That translates into nearly $2,800 in additional taxes for every man, woman and child in Merrimack. It was the Republican caucus that blocked such out-of-control taxation. It is worth remembering that raising taxes does not lower the cost of living.

Proper governing requires focus, responsibility and a willingness to make sensible choices. It is easy to complain from the sidelines, but when actual leadership was tested earlier this term, the contrast could not have been starker. During state budget negotiations, Democratic state representatives voted to shut down state government (HB 115, House Roll Call 246, 2025).

Had that shutdown effort succeeded, the financial consequences for our town would have been devastating. State education aid to Merrimack would have dropped to zero overnight. Revenue-sharing funds sent to our town would have stopped immediately. State liquor stores, which generate millions of dollars in revenue during peak holiday travel periods such as the Fourth of July week, would have been locked shut. And the list goes on.

Over the last two years, Republicans in Concord blocked a government shutdown, passed a balanced state budget and delivered record funding directly to Merrimack taxpayers. As one of your Republican state representatives, I am proud of my record of delivering results for the people of Merrimack.

While some choose to moan on social media because they simply do not know how to govern, Republicans have remained focused on doing the actual job. And, as a reminder, ConsumerAffairs ranks New Hampshire the No. 1 state in America to move to; WalletHub ranks it No. 1 for health care and taxpayer return on investment; and U.S. News & World Report ranks it No. 1 for economic opportunity, just to name a few.

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.