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Hello everyone,
    Check your mail for your new and improved tax bill. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, my bill went up another 13.4% ! I don't know about you but, I think we have had enough. I took a look at the year over year increases and it really points out the injustice of Barnstead taxation.
Year % increase
 
2002 7.85%
2003 0%
2004 84.82% !
2005 11.47%
2006 11.47%
2007 13.37%
 
From 2002 to 2007 my taxes and probably yours have increase 152%
 
Does anyone have any ideas on how to address this issue? It seems trying to talk to the town is a waste of time. Are there people at the statehouse that we could contact? If anyone has any information that would help point me in the right direction, I'd appreciate it. I've been on the lake for 15 years now and I'd really like to keep my place for my kids.
 
Thanks for listening
Take care
Frank Pierce
Porcupine Point
Upper Suncook Lake

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I am a full-time resident on Suncook Lake. I contacted the Selectman's office yesterday, and asked if taxes had gone up. The woman I spoke to said yes. I asked why. She said because the State told the town to raise them.
 
This is the mentality we are dealing with in this town. So I am not really sure what we can do. I know one thing though, and that is that this school system, which takes the majority of our property taxes, is killing us.

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Hi,
I also have a place on Suncook Pond, but I'm not a resident of Barnstead, which I think is true of most of the lake property owners. I don't get to vote at town meetings or school budget meetings where the budget is set.
 
A look at my new tax bill shows that about 60% of the tax will fund local schools, and another 12% goes to the state educational fund. That total of 72% is fairly low for New Hampshire towns. Municipal spending at over 20% of the total seems high, and county spending is high and heading higher.
 
In the past, Barnstead had a high tax rate and low valuations ( in the 1980's the tax rate was well into the $30's, and the local schools took 75% of the money), and when the state forced the town to bring assessments to market value the waterfront property really caught it.
 
I believe that the only thing that will lower evaluations on Suncook is when it can be demonstrated that property isn't selling for assessed values. When a tear-down camp on a ¼ acre lot sells for close to a ¼ million dollars it's hard to get an abatement.
 
Good luck in your battle, but it may be that eventually only the wealthy will own waterfront property. I'm doing my best with PowerBall, but no luck so far.
 
John Wentworth

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