NH Constitution and Taxes
After seven decades of breathing New Hampshire air, I’m not so naïve so as to think former Executive Councilor Andru Volinsky’s “3-3 Tax Savings Plan” would be warmly embraced by establishment politicians. But I believe many of us at the grass root level are tired of the close-minded response to any rethinking of the property tax box our communities are in. I strongly support his effort and encourage many to likewise encourage his discussion continue.
We all love to hate to pay taxes and that becomes a cudgel against any new tax structuring. However, we should look to the NH Constitution to remind ourselves of the structure and nature of the taxes authorized and our responsibility to pay them.
Art 12 [Protection and Taxation Reciprocal.]
“Every member of the community has a right to be protected by it, in the enjoyment of his life, liberty, and property; he is therefore bound to contribute his share in the expense of such protection, …”
And at Art 5, the legislature is granted the authority “to impose and levy proportional and reasonable…taxes…”
When we were an agrarian based society and economy, the value of one’s real estate and other real property was a reasonable basis for the resulting taxes being proportional to an individual’s protection and benefit from government (“community”). No longer. While property is still one metric of wealth, there are many others, including income, that would more proportionally fulfill our Constitution’s mandate of the reciprocal relationship between “protection” and “taxation”.
So, I encourage all of us, including those who represent us, set aside political dogma and perform some critical thinking. Naïve …? Maybe, but still hopeful.