HB527

Dear Committee, HB 527’s proposed changes to how education funding is managed—removing SWEPT, eliminating the Low and Moderate Homeowners Property Tax Relief, and shifting the burden to local governments—further removes and distances the State from its responsibility to provide equitable education funding for all New Hampshire children. HB 527 will disproportionately affect lower-income homeowners, increase local revenue disparities, and create budgetary instability for municipalities. Our town’s constituents are already overwhelmed by rising taxes and rising costs, our town needs the State to fund what it is mandated to provide. SWEPT is not a perfect model. But eliminating it does not absolve the state from its responsibility to create a school funding mechanism that results in a uniform tax for all residents. Signing HB 527 into law will provide a pathway for the State to shirk their financial responsibility for education and push these costs off yet again onto town budgets. HB 527 will deepen the divide in educational resources and outcomes between rich and poor districts, undermining the principle of equal educational opportunities for all students in New Hampshire. Beth Page Andover