By Rebecca Correa
Staff writer
March 05, 2008 06:09 am Imagine an election season where candidates for state senator, representative and governor don't promise to avoid new taxes. That's the vision of the Granite State Fair Tax Coalition, a nonprofit group that believes New Hampshire property taxes are too high and the state needs to at least consider different ways to raise new revenue. Paul Henle, executive director of the group, said members just want lawmakers to discuss whether a sales tax, income tax, higher cigarette tax or even gambling are better ways to raise funding. "Who knows what the solution will be? But we're not closing the door to anything," he said. "If the outcome of that conversation is that a property tax is the best way to do it, then so be it; we had the conversation." In the next two weeks, voters in 88 of more than 230 New Hampshire towns, including Salem, will be asked if they agree with the group. Last year, 14 communities were asked a similar question and 13 of them agreed. But, as is the case with most issues that involve taxes in New Hampshire, there's plenty of opposition. Roger Wilkins, spokesman for New Hampshire Advantage Coalition, said the group's nonbinding resolution is more than a poll, it's a tricky way to get a state income tax. Wilkins lives in Manchester, where the resolution isn't on the ballot this month, but he's still urging others to vote against the proposal. "I don't believe they're opening a conversation as they say. They want people to say that one tax is unfair and they would like to impose another tax to make it more unfair," he said. "Imposing another tax won't get us anywhere and there's a history that proves that in other states." Henle said $2.6 billion — or 60 percent — of state and local revenue comes from the property tax, which is more than at least 45 other states in the nation. But Wilkins said the way to control property taxes is by reducing spending. "People right now are barely being able to afford the cost of living," he said. "What would (another tax) do to the pocketbooks of those that are already hurting?" Salem resident Laurel Redden is a member of Granite State Fair Tax Coalition and is responsible for bringing the resolution to the town meeting discussion next Saturday. She said she tried to get the question on the ballot in more Southern New Hampshire communities, but she had trouble. Brentwood and Hudson are the nearest communities where voters also will be asked to weigh in on the coalition's resolution. "If the surrounding communities are like Salem, they're a bedroom community," she said. "We have people that work 7 to 7. There's not a whole lot of sense of community organizing." The organization's entire push has been through community organization, people they know, word of mouth and distributing DVDs with their message on it, according to Redden. Henle said residents in towns that don't get to vote on the resolution are urged to circulate a letter to the governor, with as many signatures as they can gather, saying new funding methods need to be considered. "Looking toward the November elections this year, our goal is that the candidates don't have to feel like they have to take the pledge," he said. Group organizers are hoping at least 75 percent of the towns with the resolution on their ballot will agree with them. "I would be shocked if they didn't," Henle said. "We're asking for a small baby step, just a conversation." But, Wilkins said, residents have had their voices heard in the past and he doesn't expect this resolution to change much. "The fact is the people have spoken many times and they don't want new taxes," he said. "The current governor has actually taken the pledge (of no new taxes) as a way to get re-elected and it worked."
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