2001 SESSION

01-0055

04/09

HOUSE BILL 349-LOCAL

COMMITTEE: Education

ANALYSIS

This bill provides that the governing body of a municipality shall grant an abatement for each child enrolled in and attending a nonpublic school in an amount equal to 10 percent of the combined amount of a taxpayer's education property tax and the local school tax assessed.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

01-0055

04/09

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand One

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 Statement of Intent. The general court recognizes that parents who choose to educate their children in venues outside of the public school system provide an avoided cost to the school district in the municipality in which they reside. This avoided cost is the result of lower variable costs in consumables, and lower costs associated with teaching staff and school physical plant. Moreover, the removal of these pupils from the public schools results in greater per pupil resources available for the education of pupils remaining in the public schools.

2 New Section; Assessment and Abatement of Taxes; Abatement; Abatement for Each Child Enrolled in a Nonpublic School. Amend RSA 76 by inserting after section 19-a the following new section:

76:19-b Abatement for Nonpublic School Enrollment and Home Education

I. The governing body of the municipality shall make an abatement in an amount equal to 10 percent of the combined amount of a taxpayer's education property tax and the local school tax assessed per tax year for each resident taxpayer's child who is enrolled in and attends a nonpublic school or who is home educated under RSA 193-A. The governing body of the municipality may require the taxpayer to submit written evidence of each child's enrollment and attendance at a nonpublic school or home education program in order to be eligible for the abatement.

II. The abatement shall be limited to one primary custodial parent per household.

III. The abatement shall not be available to any household where a child is enrolled in or participating in any curricular program offered by a public school.

3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect April 1, 2001.