New Hampshire businesses are quite varied throughout the state. We have the neighborhood mom & pop types to big corporations. Some of these corporations include Planet Fitness,Sig Sauer, C & S Wholesale Grocers, BAE Systems to name but a few. HB 155 is a bill aimed at REDUCING the amount of taxes paid by these large corporations. Which means, if passed, the state’s revenue will DECREASE annually by $26 million. When the wealthy pay less, guess who pays more?
Here's how it will come into play . . .
- Reduces the Business Enterprise Tax from 0.55% to 0.50%
- Reduces state revenue by roughly $26 million per year beginning in 2027
- Cities and towns will be forced to pay higher property taxes
- It will be harder to fund new housing, road maintenance and keep communities safe
- Benefits the wealthiest corporations
Fun facts: Approximately 1% of NH businesses pay the lion’s share of that tax and for the last 10 years, NH legislators consistently cut business taxes resulting in a revenue loss between $795 million and $1.17 billion.
That is revenue that could have gone for mental health services, more affordable housing and child care rather than benefitting big, wealthy corporations, some of which have headquarters in other states. These cuts were never meant to help small businesses, they were meant to benefit the wealthy and those who are well connected. When NH loses revenue, cities and towns get less support for schools, roads, and services. And we all know what that means, property taxes go up!
Fun fact: NH has the third-highest property taxes in the nation.
What HB 155 doesn’t do is invest in our communities, lower prices, or create jobs. Instead, it shifts millions away from local services and gives it to the corporate CEOs. Services that could benefit families already struggling from rising costs.
Should HB 155 pass, cities and towns will face larger class sizes, delayed road repairs, higher tuition, higher health care costs, child care centers closing, reduced mental health services and increased property taxes. Instead, big corporations receive a tax cut they didn’t even ask for.
Who did this? Who thought higher property taxes was just what the average, struggling NH family needed? Rep. Joe Sweeney, Rep. Jason Osborne, Rep. Joe Alexander, and Rep. Ross Berry all members of the extremist groups Liberty Alliance and/or Free Staters. This proposed bill is their latest effort in a long-term plan to shrink state revenue and place the costs onto the rest of us. Instead of investing in solutions, these extremist legislators repeatedly chose to defund the state with business tax cuts.
This combination, which can’t be stated enough, has created:
- Higher property taxes
- Underfunded schools
- An inability to address affordable housing
- Health and Child care underfunded
- Mental health and workforce shortages
Business tax cuts will only make it worse. So, what can you do? Send an email to your representative(s) letting them know of your concern and displeasure about this terrible bill. You can also email the sponsors letting them know of your concern and displeasure.
Joe.Alexander@gc.nh.gov
Ross.Berry@gc.nh.gov
Jason.Osborne@gc.nh.gov
Joe.Sweeney@gc.nh.com
We all have a voice. Let’s be heard!