News
Alice Zhao / The Dartmouth Staff
Alice Zhao / The Dartmouth Staff
Choices must be made regarding New Hampshire's taxation and spending priorities to combat rising state deficits, according to a panel of experts and community leaders who spoke in a discussion called "Putting Our Money Where Our Mouth Is: New Hampshire's Priorities and Budget," held in the Rockefeller Center on Tuesday.
Economist and executive director of the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies Steve Norton indicated that the state is suffering from a structural deficit, and that current sources of revenue were insufficient to adequately fund state services.
"The revenue structure we have established does not keep up with the social contract that we keep with the citizens of New Hampshire," he said.
Cathy Silber, executive director of the Granite State Fair Tax Coalition, offered four possible remedies for the state's budget woes.
"We can cut back on services when the need goes up or costs rise, we can raise revenue sources, we can combine these two options, or we can do nothing," she said.
Brian Walsh, chairman of the Hanover Board of Selectman, described his concerns, which he said he believes are shared by local governments across the state.
"In the past two years, the Town of Hanover tax rate has gone up 2 percent a year," he said.
He linked this to a marked decrease in payments from the state government to the local governments.