Voters in Claremont, Newport and Sunapee head to the polls Tuesday, Nov. 3, to decide whether to cap how much their school districts can raise through local property taxes.

Question 2, rooted in HB 1300, would limit each district's local school property tax collections to the prior year's amount, adjusted for inflation and new taxable property. It would also require each School Administrative Unit (SAU) to keep its central office administrative spending at 6 percent or less of total school district appropriations. Both limits would last two years, according to New Hampshire's school tax cap law.

The measure needs 60 percent approval among voters who mark the question across the applicable school district or SAU jurisdiction. Whether it passes or fails, the law requires the question to appear on the ballot again in the 2028 presidential election for another two-year period, the New Hampshire Bulletin reported. A district that adopts the cap could override it for a specific annual budget under the procedures established by state law.

Local boards weigh in

School officials in all three area communities scheduled public discussions of the ballot question before Election Day.

The Claremont School Board hosted a public forum on Oct. 21 at 6:30 p.m. The session was scheduled to include an informational presentation on HB 1300, followed by public comment.

The Newport School Board invited state representatives and candidates to its Oct. 29 meeting for a conversation about HB 1300. The board also has a meeting scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 5, and a budget workshop set for Nov. 21.

The Sunapee School Board scheduled an HB 1300 community information session for Oct. 14, according to the Project Sunapee community calendar. The board also announced a September session to discuss the proposed cap and its possible effects on district finances.

What the cap would mean in practice

Superintendent Timothy Broadrick of SAU 6 wrote in an Oct. 21 op-ed published in the Concord Monitor that Claremont already faces steep, unpredictable costs from court-ordered out-of-district special education placements.

The district expects about ten such placements per year, costing $600,000 to $1 million annually in local taxes, according to Broadrick's commentary posted by SAU 6.

Broadrick wrote that local districts must pay between $64,635 and $100,000 per student per year for those placements before meaningful state aid begins. He described state and federal special education funding as insufficient to cover those expenses, leaving substantial costs with local taxpayers.

Those costs illustrate one challenge school districts face when preparing budgets. The proposed property tax cap would limit the growth of local tax collections, although the law does not prescribe specific reductions to classroom programs or other services.

The New Hampshire Bulletin reported that school districts also face expenses tied to transportation, health insurance and collective bargaining agreements. If revenue limits required budget adjustments, districts would have to weigh those obligations against other spending priorities.

Partisan divide on the question

A Saint Anselm College poll conducted Oct. 19 to 20 found 57 percent of likely voters supported the tax cap, the Bulletin reported. Support broke sharply along party lines: 83 percent of Republicans, 56 percent of undeclared voters and 31 percent of Democrats backed it.

Jeff Kessler, a 20-year Newport selectboard member running for a Sullivan District 3 House seat, told the Valley News the cap "will not do anything to reduce property taxes and will only force districts into a corner because many of the cost increases, such as health insurance and diesel fuel, they can't control."

State Rep. Steve Smith of Charlestown, the House deputy speaker, offered a different take in the same Valley News report. "It slows the increase in spending. That is all," Smith said. "School taxes are still going up."

The Newport School Board's next meeting is Thursday, Nov. 5, at 5:30 p.m. at the Sugar River Valley Regional Technical Center, 243 N. Main St., Newport.