Last week, we examined the results of town elections across the state and the devastating choices the Republican-controlled state government forces our local property taxpayers: either increase property taxes or make devastating cuts to services. But hardly a week goes by these days where there’s not another example of the disastrous consequences of Republicans in control of our state and federal government.
This week, let’s examine the impact of Republican-controlled government here in New Hampshire from local government, at the State House, and in Washington:
In Manchester, Republican Mayor Ruais’ Budget Raises Taxes and Guts School Funding at the Same Time
When he proposed his latest budget on Thursday night, Republican Mayor of Manchester, Jay Ruais, found a way to both increase property taxes on Manchester taxpayers and shortchange Manchester children at the same time. His budget proposal, for the second year in a row, increases property taxes and combined with last year’s tax increase would equate to a 5.76% increase in property taxes since he took office last year. In the same proposal, Ruais cut $9.5 million from the Manchester schools.
Instead of delivering results for Manchester, Jay Ruais keeps delivering tax hikes. He continues to soak Manchester taxpayers and now he’s shortchanging Manchester’s children. His proposal clearly shows that Ruais has no plan to move Manchester forward and deliver on the false promises he made while campaigning for mayor.
But proposals like Ruais’ don’t happen in a vacuum: it occurs when the lack of investment and funding from state government forces bad choices onto local communities. The big exception in Mayor Ruais’ proposal is that instead of making cuts to critical services (like public education) in order to lower taxes, Ruais instead decided to do both.
Ayotte Blindsided Yet Again by Trump Cuts; Fails to Protect Granite Staters from More Tax Hikes
Instead of preparing for the financial storm ahead, Governor Kelly Ayotte was caught completely flat-footed as the federal government slashed over $80 million in pandemic-era grant funding that New Hampshire’s budget had been counting on. The result? A massive hole in the state’s finances that Ayotte will likely now look to everyday Granite Staters to cover with tax hikes.
These cuts aren’t a fluke—they’re part of a clear pattern of federal disinvestment under Trump that disproportionately hurts states like New Hampshire .The Trump Administration recently froze federal grant that threaten $1.5 million in COPS grants for police departments, jeopardize coverage and access for 184,000 New Hampshire Medicaid recipients, and risk the state’s $14 million for homelessness programs. Ayotte refused to join a lawsuit with other governors to sue the federal government to protect New Hampshire against this unconstitutional freeze. Ayotte should have seen this coming from a mile away. Instead, she made a political bet, and Granite Staters are now the ones paying the price.
Tax hikes are becoming synonymous with Kelly Ayotte. During her budget address, she boasted about her plan for no new taxes, but the reality is that under Republican leadership, statewide property taxes increased by $100.7 million in FY2024, a 38.3% jump. Republican Mayor of Manchester, Jay Ruais, who campaigned on tax cuts, just raised property taxes by 3.82%—the city’s largest increase in over a decade, while Lebanon residents are bracing for an 11.9% municipal property tax increase, and Gorham property owners face a crushing $3.74 increase per $1,000 valuation, leaving residents furious about disappearing services and rising costs.
Ayotte is now scrambling to understand and address the impact, but New Hampshire families and local communities were already bracing for steep cuts and steep tax hikes before this news broke. She ignored the warning signs, and left the state financially vulnerable to exactly this kind of blow. Worst of all, she doesn’t appear ready to fight back.
Take Action This Week!
Next week, the NH House will be voting on their state budget proposal. Call your state reps now and tell them to oppose the Republican budget proposal that increases costs, increases property taxes, and guts essential services.
Sign up for our next digital activist training to increase the impact of your social media activism!
Share out social media posts calling out Kelly Ayotte for refusing to protect Granite Staters from the Trump administration and calling out NH Republicans for raising property taxes and cutting essential services.
Join Our Next Training This Wednesday!
This Wednesday, April 2nd at 6:00 PM, Amplify NH will be hosting virtual Digital Activist 201 training: Finding Your Voice!
In this training, we delve deeper into the world of social media activism. We will cover how to carve out a space for yourself on social media, and how to start creating your own content to become a talker and thought leader online! You can sign up for the training here.
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Thank you,
Ryan Mahoney
Executive Director