In its last two-year budget (FY24–25), Concord sent cities and towns more money than ever before, in dollars. So why does your property tax bill keep climbing? Democrats have a one-word answer — “downshifting.” Here’s what that word is really hiding.
The entire “downshifting” attack rests on one claim: that Concord slashed aid and stuck your town with the bill. But state aid to cities and towns hit an all‑time high in dollars in the FY24–25 budget — so the story falls apart on its very first sentence.
“Downshifting” is a poll-tested word Democrats repeat in press releases, op‑eds, and letters to the editor — because it sounds technical enough to be true.
“New Hampshire Republicans have run up the tab, and they are driving up your property taxes to pay the bill.”
— NH Democratic Party4“…the Republicans have run up the tab and now they are passing the bill on to you.”
— Sen. Cindy Rosenwald (D‑Nashua)4“A decrease in state funding results in higher property taxes. Can’t be said enough!”
— DemocracyNH4Every one of these attacks hangs on the same hidden assumption — that Concord cut the money. That’s the part they’re counting on you not to check. So let’s check it.
If “downshifting” were the cause of rising property taxes, then record state aid would push them down. It didn’t. That single fact collapses the whole story.
“The state sent more money than ever. Your property taxes still went up 20 percent. If ‘down‑shifting’ were real, that would be impossible.” NH House Majority Leader Jason Osborne & Sen. Regina Birdsell, NH Journal, April 12, 20266
Your property taxes are decided at your town meeting and your school district budget — not in Concord. Even the state’s own nonpartisan municipal association says so:
Local revenue means local decisions. School budgets, new hires, contracts, and town spending — voted on at the local level — are what move your rate. When those budgets grow faster than aid, your bill goes up. “Downshifting” is the word politicians use to point the finger somewhere else.
Here is the piece missing from every “downshifting” press release. From 2001 to 2024, New Hampshire public schools lost 21% of their students while the number of full‑time administrators rose 78%. Enrollment fell. Administration did not.11
Those figures count every public school in the state, charters included. Since 2012 alone New Hampshire has lost 16% of its public school students.11 The state still runs more than 100 separate school administrative units, and 26 superintendents are paid at least $170,000, two of them above $200,000.12
The one‑time federal COVID money, more than $650 million, is part of the story but not the cause. It ran out on schedule in 2024, and by the Josiah Bartlett Center’s count it accounts for only about 19% of the rise in per‑student spending from 2020 to 2024. Over the same years local school spending rose 29%, against a 17% rise in the cost of living.1011
And most voters never see any of it as its own line item. As Rep. Michael Vose put it, the administrative costs of running an SAU are “buried in the school district budget, and it’s virtually impossible for the average person to dig through that budget and find the line items that apply to the SAU.”13
That is not a cut from Concord. It is an overhead problem, and until this year it was one you could not vote on directly.
Republicans just put the administrative budget on your ballot.
House Bill 564, signed June 19, 2026 as Chapter 153 and effective August 18, requires every school district to put the SAU budget before voters in a separate warrant article. Vote it down and the unit runs on an adjusted budget instead. Any unassigned money left at the end of the year now goes back to the school districts.13
“The state pulled back, so we had to raise your property taxes.”
State funding from Concord hit record highs in dollars, and school administration grew 78% while enrollment fell 21%. The one‑time federal COVID money that ran out in 2024 explains only a fraction of the growth. That is an overhead decision made close to home, and starting this year you can vote on it by itself.51110
To make the attack sound huge, Democrats cite a “$3 billion downshift over the last decade” — a figure from a single opinion column, not from the state’s official books.1
“The state downshifted ~$3 billion onto local property taxpayers.”
One opinion column, by a Democratic candidate, with no math shown. Its author, Jack Wozmak, is the Cheshire County Treasurer and is running for re‑election this year as a Democrat. His column (Union Leader, December 2025) gives no table, no source and no year‑by‑year figures for any part of the $3 billion.1 The best‑documented cost‑shift is far older: municipal revenue sharing, about $25M a year and roughly $400M in all from 2010 to 2025, was first suspended by a Democratic legislature and governor in the 2009 budget, and the Democratic legislature of 2019 kept it suspended.215
The newest twist on the “downshifting” attack says Education Freedom Accounts drain public schools and drive up your local taxes. Here is how they actually work, and why they can’t touch your property‑tax bill.
“Vouchers drain your public schools and raise your property taxes.”
Democrats claim Republican business-tax cuts shifted the load onto your property-tax bill. In fact, businesses fund a bigger share of the state than a decade ago — and there’s no lever tying a statewide business tax to your local rate. (The BET they’re cutting is creditable against the profits tax, so it’s really a small-business cut.)
Here’s the irony. The cost‑shifts everyone points to — the state pulling back from its share of local retirement costs, and the suspension of municipal revenue sharing — began in the 2009 budget, when Democrats controlled the House, the Senate, and the Governor’s office.3
Democrats began tearing down that 30‑year commitment in their 2009 budget, cutting the state’s share from 35% to 25%, and they suspended municipal revenue sharing (~$25M a year to cities and towns), which never came back. The 2011 Republican legislature then eliminated the retirement share. When Democrats ran the House and Senate again in 2019, the House killed a bill to restore a 15% share and the budget kept revenue sharing suspended. The party now shouting “downshifting” is the party that started it, and had its own chance to undo it.2316
Who controlled Concord when the first “downshift” budget passed in 2009.
Far from cutting, the FY24–25 Republican budget sent communities record aid in dollars and held county long‑term‑care costs flat, and the 2025 budget protected towns’ 30% share of meals & rooms revenue.517
House Democrats have already filed LSR 2027‑0240 for the 2027 session: “establishing an income tax and establishing a sales tax on certain luxury goods.” Its prime sponsor is Democratic Rep. Ellen Read of Newmarket.19
And when the House voted on keeping New Hampshire income tax free, every one of the 158 “no” votes was a Democrat. The vote came on March 5, 2026, on CACR 10, the Constitutional amendment to keep New Hampshire income tax free. All 191 Republicans voting said yes, joined by 3 Democrats. The final count was 194 to 158, short of the three‑fifths a Constitutional amendment needs.18
The one thing that keeps New Hampshire free and affordable is that we don’t have an income tax. Don’t let a made‑up word talk you into giving it up.
Whether it’s a town meeting or the Thanksgiving table, here’s the truth behind the three lines you’ll hear most.
“Republicans cut aid to your town.”
The FY24–25 Republican budget sent towns record aid — roughly $2.69 billion in FY24–25, the most ever in dollars, including a $169.1M increase in school funding.5
“The state is why your property taxes are so high.”
Property tax is a local revenue source. Your rate is set by your town and school‑district budgets — voted at your town and school meetings, not in Concord.2
“Republicans shifted retirement costs onto towns.”
Property taxes will be front and center this election. Sign up and we’ll send you the numbers, the receipts, and the rebuttals — straight, no spin.
Your neighbors are hearing the “downshifting” line too. Grab a share-ready graphic, set the record straight, and help elect the Republicans defending the New Hampshire Advantage.
Figures reflect the 2024–2026 NH budget cycle. Historical cost‑shift origins (2009–2013) are documented by the nonpartisan NH Retirement System and NH Municipal Association.