LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION 11 



of their respective levies except the town, which assumes full re- 

 sponsibility for delinquency. 



The New Hampshire constitution grants the state legislature 

 authority to determine what classes of property shall be taxed, but 

 such taxes must be levied in accordance with the rule of proportional- 

 ity. The kinds of property subject to local assessment have been 

 changed from time to time ; new items have been added, whereas 

 others, particularly intangible personal property, have been dropped 

 from the assessment rolls and taxed by special methods administered 

 by the state tax commission. Real estate now constitutes more than 

 90 percent of the taxable property subject to local taxation. The re- 

 mainder is tangible personal property, most of which consists of stock 

 in trade and farm livestock. 



During the last ten years the aggregate assessed valuation of all 

 taxable property subject to local taxation in New Hampshire has 

 averaged approximately $550,000,000. In 1940 the property taxes 

 levied bv towns for all local units of government amounted to about 

 $19,000,000. Thus the state average tax rate for 1940 was $3.41 per 

 $100 of assessed valuation. In the same year the tax rates in all towns 

 and cities ranged from $0.99 to $5.03 per $100 of assessed valuation. 

 The highest tax rate recorded since the creation of the state tax com- 

 mission was $6.45 in 1939, whereas the lowest rate was $0.28 in 1918. 



There is no active equalization in New Hampshire in the ordinary 

 use of the term. The state tax commission, which has general super- 

 vision over the assessment and taxation laws of the state, has accom- 

 plished much by reassessment and by obtaining cooperation from 

 the selectmen. Since the tobacco tax was substituted for the state 

 direct tax in 1939. the county is now the only unit of government 

 which spreads a property tax over an area larger than the town. The 

 county tax, so-called, is a direct property tax and is apportioned 

 among its towns and cities on the basis of "equalized valuation," 

 which is calculated by adding to the assessed valuation of each town 

 certain valuations the tax upon which is levied and collected by the 

 state. 



Of the taxes collected locally by all towns and cities, 43.4 percent 

 was paid to other units of local government in 1940. The remainder. 

 56.6 percent of the taxes collected locally, was available to meet 

 town and city charges. Locally collected taxes constituted 62.4 per- 

 cent of the town and city revenues. Local revenues other than taxes 

 amounted to 29.8 percent of the total receipts, and the amount re- 

 ceived from state collected taxes amounted to 7.8 percent. School 

 districts and counties received 80.3 percent and 87.0 percent, respec- 

 tively, of their revenue from local taxation. 



Many tax collectors in rural towns have extended the tax lien 

 from July 1 to October 1 following the year of levy, an extension of 

 time made permissible by legislative action in 1939. The advantages 

 claimed for such action are not apparent as indicated by the lack of 

 any pronounced relation between the amount of delinquency, and the 

 time of tax sale. The tax sale appears to be an effective instrument 

 for obtaining tax money promptly. 



