Being away from NH I have learned a few things about taxes, including property taxes. NH has absorbent property taxes in some parts of the state, if not all and I am wondering if the FSP is informing people who are moving from out of state about these property taxes.
Thank you for your post. I'm not trying to attack you so please don't take this as a personal attack. My thoughts follow.
The FSP is just a bus to move people to NH. It doesn't really info people about that many things except for the statement of intent and a few other things.
Individual members of the FSP however, do inform folks. No one is trying to pretend that NH is perfect. For example. Manchester, NH was just rated the 2nd lowest taxed city in the nation. A city in AK was rated the lowest. So we are well aware that NH doesn't have the lowest taxes overall. Heck, there are parts of AK without income, sales, or property taxes and member you are paid to live there.
I know of many families who moved away from NH so that they could purchase an affordable house with little to no property tax.
That's one way to do it. Another way is to work to lower the property taxes. As you know, the voters of most towns have huge influence on what the tax rates are as the help set the budget. However, I recommend families do whatever they think is best.
Yes other states have income and sales tax both or one of the other, so where does NH get its money? From high property tax that's where.
That is more or less true. Most states have both a state income and a state sales tax. NH has a bunch of minor taxes and high property taxes. Of course, almost all towns outside of NH also have property taxes. In fact, in some areas, the property taxes are even higher than in NH. For example, not only do properties in Boston cost much more than NH (plus residents have to pay income and sales tax), but the property taxes are also higher. People in NJ tend to also pay higher property taxes. Many people in NY, RI, CT, VT, ME, and OR also pay higher property taxes. While people in CA tend not to have high property taxes, there are a ton of minor taxes and the income and sales taxes can get over 10% in some areas.
On the other hand, the town I live in is much different. Much of the taxes in my town are paid for by companies and not individual property taxes. So even in NH, things may vary greatly from town to town.
A friend of mine purchased a farm house in rural Wear NH, the property tax was 1,500 a year. Her and her husband renovated the house with their own time and money, to make it their own. One day the tax assessor man came, a wolf in sheep's clothing, saw their efforts, naive husband proud of his work, and the tax man well he increased their property tax from 1,500 a year to a whopping 6,000 a year.
Pristine houses tend to be worth more than dilapidated buildings. Subsequently, people owning them tend to have higher property tax bills. In this way, many towns seem to reward people who don't keep their house in good condition with lower property tax bills. Of course, you can always fight a property tax bill. It may be even more effective to get to the route of the problem, the out of control spending in some of the towns.
If you are inticing people to come because NH has no income or sales tax, you should also inform them of the high property taxes, no public transportation (if you do not have reliable transportation or a drivers license you are in a bad situation the winters are rough and NH is rura
l), poor education, awful health care etc.
I am enticing people to move to NH as part of the Free State Project. I understand that no state is perfect or will become perfect with a snap of my fingers. The FSP members looked at 10 states to see which was the best for the project. We then voted and NH was selected.
About the issues you bring up, though.
NH has the 2nd lowest overall taxes.
NH has public transportation in several areas including Manchester and the Seacoast.
NH (and New England in general) tends to lead the nation in education.
NH has one of the healthiest populations in the nation (I thing 2nd) and has one of the top hospitals in the nation.
My family owns property in NH and it's not the greatest, we pay 1,600 a year and there have been many a year we had to break the bank to cover heating and property taxes, mortgage etc. I am against sales and income tax however I am just keeping it honest, because prospective movers might not expect all this when they come.
All of the facts are out there. There is a massive FSP website full of tons of info. There are welcome wagon folks to answer all questions. There is this forum where people are encouraged to ask questions. There is even a prospective participants sub forum, as you know since we are posting on it. No one is trying to hide anything.
If they have large sums of money, income well, it doesn't matter I suppose. NH is the sixth richest state in the country, but there is many an old money and those who will keep it that way, all I am saying is people from other states may have difficulty gaining footing, and I must again emphasize reliable transportation, your cars will rust, your engines will stall your gas lines will freeze, 4wheel drive, snow tires a must. NH is rough living indeed but builds character, that I will never regret.
Through criagslist, classified ads, and porcmanor.com people are able to move to NH and rent rooms from $300-$700 per month, all over the state. NH isn't a very expensive state to live in (much cheaper than MA, CA, AK, HI, CT, RI, NY, NJ for most people). You can buy a house for under $150,000 in most of the state. You can buy a 2 bedroom condo in Concord for less than $70,000 (I know, my friend has one).
I agree that reliable transportation is needed if you don't live in one of the dozens of towns or cities (Keene, Manchester, Derry, Portsmouth. Dover, Seabrook, Newport, Berlin, Concord, Hampton. Hampton Falls, Exeter...) where it is easy enough to walk around from certain areas. My engine didn't stall and my gasline didn't freeze this winter. However, it only got -4 or so where I live at the coldest. I understand it gets down to -30 or so from time to time, depending on where you live. Of course, if you are worried, you can get a vehicle which is plugged in at night. I don't have 4 wheel drive or snow tires. I think they are useful; however, they are usually not needed - it depends on your driving habits.
Overall, I agree with you. While the government of NH is smaller than most and leaves you alone more than most, NH has more nature induced problems than some other areas of the nation. While NH isn't as wild as AK, WY, MT, ND, SD, VT, or ME, it does have obstacles and changing weather which should be planned for. NH is far from perfect, but it seems damn good to me!