HB1698 (2006) Detail

Relative to determination of town's share on county taxes.


HB 1698-FN-A-LOCAL – AS INTRODUCED

2006 SESSION

06-2183

10/03

HOUSE BILL 1698-FN-A-LOCAL

AN ACT relative to determination of town’s share on county taxes.

SPONSORS: Rep. Gale, Sull 3

COMMITTEE: Municipal and County Government

ANALYSIS

This bill establishes a procedure for determining the apportionment of the county taxes to the towns in the county using limits on the calculation determined from equalized valuation.

The bill also requires state funding for the shortfall from the decreases in a town’s share.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

06-2183

10/03

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Six

AN ACT relative to determination of town’s share on county taxes.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 County Taxes; Tax Warrants; Procedure; State Funding. Amend RSA 29:11 to read as follows:

29:11 Tax Warrants and Extents.

I. The treasurer shall issue a warrant to the selectmen of the several towns in the county liable to pay state taxes, requiring them to assess, collect, and pay to the treasurer, within such time as shall be therein directed, their just proportion of all taxes granted by the county convention according to [their proportion of public taxes for the time being] the apportionment procedure in paragraph III, and shall enforce the collection and payment thereof, together with interest at 10 percent a year from December 17 upon all taxes not then paid, and the county tax assessed against any town shall not be deemed paid until the whole amount of the warrant together with said interest from December 17 to the date of payment has been received by said treasurer. If December 17 fall upon a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the due date for payment of taxes shall be the first business day following December 17. If December 17 falls upon a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the interest payment penalty on taxes not paid when due shall be computed from the first business day following December 17 to the date on which payment is actually made. If the county tax is not paid in full, the county treasurer may petition the superior court in the county in which the town is located, to attach the town’s pecuniary assets in the amount owed to the county.

II. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph I of this section, the interest payment penalty provided in said paragraph shall not apply in Hillsborough county if payment of the tax bill is made within 30 days of its receipt by the taxpayer.

III. The apportionment of taxes to towns within a county shall be as follows:

(a) Determine the apportionment using each town’s share of equalized valuation as determined by the department of revenue administration and reflect the apportionment as each town’s percentage of the total county equalized valuation.

(b) Determine the percentage of population that each town in the county bears to the entire county population, using population data estimated by the office of energy and planning pursuant to RSA 78-A:25.

(c) Adjust the apportionment in subparagraph (a) so that no town’s share shall exceed its percentage of the population by more than 2 percentage points.

(d) Any town’s share of county taxes which exceeds the town’s cost of general municipal government shall be reduced to be no greater than its general municipal government taxes.

(e) Any decrease in a town’s share of taxes from the apportionment according to equalized valuation, as determined by this paragraph, shall not be included in the warrant for the town, but shall be funded as provided in paragraph IV.

IV. The total of the taxes granted by the county conventions which are not included in the warrant as determined under paragraph III, shall be paid directly to the town treasurer from state funds. The governor is authorized to draw a warrant for said sums out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect April 1, 2006.

LBAO

06-2183

Revised 12/27/05

HB 1698 FISCAL NOTE

AN ACT relative to determination of town’s share of county taxes.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      The New Hampshire Municipal Association states this bill will increase state expenditures and decrease local expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2006 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on state, county, and local revenue or county expenditures.

METHODOLOGY:

    The New Hampshire Municipal Association states this bill provides a new formula for apportioning the county tax obligation among the towns and cities in each county. Currently, the county tax is apportioned based on the equalized valuation of each municipality within the county. The new formula would make reductions to the apportionment based on population and general municipal government taxes. The amount of these reductions would not be included in the county tax warrant to the town, but would be made up by payments from state funds. This bill would reduce the amount of county tax apportioned to some municipalities by an indeterminate amount depending on the amount of the municipality’s county tax share according to equalized valuation, the municipality’s population, and the size of the municipality’s general municipal government taxes. The Association states it does not appear this bill would increase any municipality’s tax share.

    The Department of Revenue Administration states they can administer the provisions of this bill at no additional cost.

    The Association of Counties states this bill will have no fiscal impact on county revenue or expenditures.