Budget & Taxes

HB 1588 establishes a process for cities and towns to create special assessment districts to fund infrastructure improvements (like roads, water, and sewer systems) directly tied to new housing developments. Municipalities can finance these projects through property assessments on benefiting parcels - collected over up to 20 years - without using general tax revenue. The bill also expands an existing state grant program to fund municipal infrastructure upgrades for new housing, with a $1 appropriation for fiscal year 2027. This directly affects municipalities planning new housing projects and property owners within designated districts who may face assessments based on their specific benefit from improvements.

HB 675 increases the statewide education property tax revenue cap to $773 million for 2025 and requires municipalities to remit excess tax collections to the state education trust fund. It limits school district spending growth on non-facilities expenses by tying annual appropriations to the 3-year average Consumer Price Index (CPI), with stricter rules after 2027. The bill also raises the base per-pupil adequacy cost from $4,100 to $7,356 and mandates annual reporting of district spending to the Department of Education. These changes directly affect school districts and municipalities managing education funding, effective July 1, 2025. (Note: The bill’s title mentioning "central office expenses" does not align with the actual provisions; this summary reflects the actual tax and spending mechanisms described in the bill text.)

HB 572 establishes the "Partners in Housing" program, a low-interest loan and grant program under the Housing Champions Fund to help municipalities, counties, and developers build workforce housing. The program prioritizes single-family starter homes, duplexes, small apartment buildings, and "missing middle housing" on municipally-owned land suitable for residential development, with $2 million of the $10 million total funding specifically allocated for this initiative. Municipalities can identify suitable public land for housing development, which would be added to a statewide list prioritized for program funding, and projects must include at least 20% affordable units for 20 years. The program also includes expedited review processes for qualifying projects to speed up development. The bill appropriates $10 million for the Housing Champions Fund, with $500,000 designated for program administration.

HB 624 creates a grant program to provide funding to existing local river management advisory committees in New Hampshire. These committees, established under state law, can apply for grants of up to $10,000 annually to support their work managing local river resources. The bill appropriates $40,000 for fiscal year 2026 and $40,000 for fiscal year 2027 from the General Fund, to be administered by the Department of Environmental Services. The program requires the department to develop application rules but does not include funding for administrative costs.