NHSFFP issued the following statement after the July 12, 2023, hearing on the Rand taxpayer plaintiffs’ motion seeking summary judgement that the Statewide Education Property Tax is unconstitutional. The hearing was held at the Rockingham Superior Court in front of the Hon. David Ruoff.

Today, the State was unable to defend its unconstitutional administration of the Statewide Education Property Tax (SWEPT). The facts are clear that some municipalities have been allowed to retain excess SWEPT revenues and that some municipalities have been able to offset their payment of SWEPT with negative local education tax rates, and both of these unconstitutional SWEPT avoidance tactics have been permitted by the State. 

“This is clear cut. Without a doubt what the State has been allowing to happen with SWEPT has been unconstitutional and contributed to creating an upside-down tax system to fund education,” said Zack Sheehan, NHSFFP Executive Director. “By approving of these SWEPT avoidance tactics, the State has been complicit in giving some property owners special treatment while others, mainly in communities with lower property values, shoulder much heavier burdens to support their local schools.” 

The arguments put forward by the State focused on the logistical and timing issues that a ruling on SWEPT would have on tax collections, and also that since there are a small number of communities who benefit from this scheme it’s not a big enough deal to change the system. But the lived reality of property tax payers across the state is that we are paying dramatically different rates due in part to how SWEPT is structured.  

“The courts have ruled again and again that funding for education is a state responsibility and that the State needs to treat all taxpayers fairly by using uniform rates,” Sheehan said. “I think the judge will agree that this system as it has been administered cannot be allowed to continue.”