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Yes, We Have a Tax Cap
by Michael Kitch
Laconia Voters donned the tax cap, but doffed some of its staunchest
champions. By a margin of 134 votes, four percent of the ballots cast,
voters endorsed the tax cap. But candidates who opposed the tax cap
captured the mayor's office and four of the six seats on the City Council.
The success of the tax cap marked a victory for a determined group of
activists, led by former state representative and city councilor Niel Young,
who cleared several hurdles to place the proposal to amend the City Charter
on the ballot. Within a week, Young and his allies mounted a petition drive
that collected over 600 signatures, more than enough to ensure the amendment
a place on the ballot. When the New Hampshire Attorney General objected to
the wording of the proposed amendment and struck it off the ballot, the
group went to Concord and negotiated a compromise that rescued the proposal.
All that remained was to persuade the City Council to restore the proposal
to the ballot, which it did at an emergency meeting at the eleventh hour.
The tax cap will limit the annual increase in the amount to be raised by
property taxes to the rate of inflation. It can be overridden by a
two-thirds vote of the City Council, or by four of the councilors.
Ironically, the same voters who endorsed the tax cap, returned a mayor and
four councilors who openly opposed it throughout the campaign.
The election was billed as a contest between two slates of seven candidates.
One, topped by mayoral candidate Roland Maheu, supported the tax cap, while
the other, aligned with Matt Lahey, Maheu's rival, opposed it. Although the
tax cap carried in four of six wards --- 1, 4, 5 and 6 --- its supporters
succeeded in only two, Wards 5 and 6 where incumbents Bob Hamel and Armand
Bolduc were returned. Meanwhile, the two most outspoken supporters of the
tax cap, incumbent Judy Krahulec in Ward 1 and newcomer Mike Verhoeks in
Ward 4 were both beaten, albeit by narrow margins, in wards where voters
endorsed the tax cap. Krahulec lost by a mere four votes and Verhoeks by
only 14.
Many voters appeared to understand that if they favored the tax cap, whoever
they elected to the council would be bound by it and cast their votes for
council candidates based on considerations other than their positions on the
tax cap.
The mixed message from the electorate was not lost on Lahey. "I heard the
voters saying 'do what you did during the ten years you were on the City
Council,'" he said. "Maintain public services, do capital projects and keep
taxes down." At the same time, he expected that although a majority of the
new council had opposed the tax cap, they would be reluctant to override it.
"It will depend on the importance of the project and the extent of the
override," he ventured, indicating that he doubted the council would agree
to exceed the cap by a significant amount, and then only to meet legitimate
and urgent needs. "We are going to work within the cap," he said.
(This article appeared in The Laconia Daily Sun Wednesday, November 9, 2005.)
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