The following commentary by Steve MacDonald has been republished with permission from GraniteGrok.
Vermont’s Legislature is working out the final details of Gov. Phil Scott’s proposed $8.4 billion budget. That’s over $12,957 for every man, woman and child in the state. Guess how much New Hampshire’s is.
The final budget for the Granite State will be around $13.9 billion, or $9,743 per resident. Except it’s not. Vermont writes a budget every year, while New Hampshire’s budget is for two years. The spending equivalent per resident per year for Vermont based on the estimated 2024 budget is $12,957. For New Hampshire it is $4,871. Vermont’s government spends 62% more per resident every year. For what?
Some other numbers
The Granite State has twice the population, more than twice the labor force, and a GDP of $82.94 billion (2022) compared to Vermont’s $31.4 billion (2022). New Hampshire has lower and fewer taxes.
WalletHub ranked Vermont as having the fourth highest tax burden by state. New Hampshire was 48th. The Tax Foundation estimates Vermont’s effective tax rate at 12.5% (47th) and New Hampshire’s at 9.6% (16th).
There are other variables, and everyone has work to do, and yes, there are a lot of federal funds used in both state budgets. But those are costs that, if the feds went belly up tomorrow, the state would have to shoulder (more taxes) or cut.
Overall, New Hampshire is consistently safer, has a higher standard of living, has lower welfare and poverty rates, and has better health outcomes.
Democrat rule has placed Vermont in hospice while we wait for it to die like every other Democrat-run hell-hole in America.
Note to Free State Projects. Where are those tens of thousands of liberty-minded folks we were promised? If they don’t get here soon, it could be too late because the cauldron of poison bubbling in Vermont has been spilling across the Connecticut River for years. If we don’t dilute that influence, we may all be looking for another state in which we have some hope to live free before we die.
Note: Vermont’s $8.4 billion 2024 budget, as proposed by its Republican governor, has been labeled “lean,” but Phil Scott’s 2019 budget proposal was $6.1 Billion, nearly 40% less.
New Hampshire has no regressive sales tax
New Hampshire has no income tax
New Hampshire taxes capital gains at a flat 5%
New Hampshire taxes dividends at a flat 5%
New Hampshire does not tax Social Security payments
New Hampshire does not tax distributions from IRAs and other pension plans
New Hampshire does not have an inheritance tax
The above needs some revisions
Overall Tax Burden in New Hampshire
Most people are concerned about taxes. When you move to New Hampshire, you’ll be living in one of the lowest taxed states in the country!
In 2021, Wallet Hub ranked NH #1 in taxpayer Return on Investment.
They also ranked NH #2 in lowest taxes paid per capita.
The Granite State’s low tax burden is a result of:
No income tax
No sales tax
No capital gains tax
No inheritance or estate taxes
No tax on IRA and other pension plan withdrawals/distributions
No tax on Social Security payments
New Hampshire does collect:
Property taxes that vary by town
Auto registration fees
A 9% rooms and meals tax (also on rental cars)
A 5% tax on dividends and interest with a $2,400/$4,800 exemption plus additional exemptions
Taxes on the self-employed above a certain threshold (by 2021, the business profits tax will be 7.5% and the business enterprise tax will be .5%)
Source: WalletHub
About Property Taxes
The ability to choose one’s property tax rate makes New Hampshire an appealing option for those who value low taxes.
Though New Hampshire ranks #2 in per capita property taxes, tax rates and assessed values vary greatly from town to town.
The median tax amount paid in rural areas can be quite low.
Those who are willing to commute farther to work and those who don’t need to commute can lower their overall tax burden significantly by shopping for low-tax towns.
Low-tax towns include Berlin, Croydon, Hebron, Holderness, Moultonborough, Newington and Tuftonboro.
New Hampshire Property Tax Median Amounts
Low New Hampshire Taxes Result in a Thriving Economy
New Hampshire’s robust economy boasts the 3rd lowest unemployment rate in the country (as of March 2019).
The state ranks #6 in the State Business Tax Climate Index for 2019, with no tax on machinery, equipment, or inventory.
The combination of a high median household income (ranked #6 in 2018) and low individual tax burden creates conditions for residents to thrive.
Consequently, New Hampshire has the lowest percentage of residents and children living in poverty.
New Hampshire residents rank #1 in financial literacy.
The state boasts the highest per-capita Bitcoin usage, with an active cryptocurrency economy and the longest running crypto meeting in the world.
A 2017 law exempts digital currency traders from the state’s money transmission regulations.
That’s the difference on states that rule by “Feelings” as apposed to “Needs”. While in VT the overlords spend to get reelected in NH they get elected by the good job they do. The voters here must be blind and uninformed to keep electing idiots who do their best to drive us all into the poor house.
The money from the Fed is worthless. How can the federal government bail out any state, the national debt is $32 Trillion dollars. Does anyone grasp how much that is? One trillion is 1,000 Billion, one billion is 1,000 million. Hello, do the math if you can. This coming year the fed will pay over 600 billion in interest alone. Every time they crank up the printing press to print more worthless money the interest tab goes up and the dollar value goes down. Vermont is on a path to self destruction, like it or not. The covid cash coming to Vermont is being used for everything except covid anything and that well just went dry. If Vermont goes bully up, no one can say they weren’t warned. So keep voting for Democrats and progressives and watch whatever you have disappear in the rear view mirror as you ignore what’s a head.
I have repeatedly warned that this heavy spending in Vermont is dependent on federal dollars, and if those dried up Vermont’s mammoth bureaucracy would be in crisis overnight. New Hampshire’s largest employer is Dartmouth Hospital; Vermont’s is the State Bureaucracy. And what would happen if Vermont’s biggest employer suddenly lost its federal teat?
Cheer up! Many common sense conservatives are fleeing Vermont for New Hampshire (they hear your White Mountains beckoning liberty).
(BTW, I would think $12,957 is 266% of $4,871, not 62%? Vermont is far worse than you credit).
This is why I’m looking for some land in New Hampshire to build a house on. I’m done with the people’s republik oc vermont. The liberals have destroyedmy state.
10-4…That’s a bingo:
“Democrat rule has placed Vermont in hospice while we wait for it to die like every other Democrat-run hell-hole in America.”
It would have happened by now…VT in deep fiscal trouble…except covid saved VT. I believe that on a per capita basis, VT got the LARGEST amount of free money (liberals demand all free money)…I think around $3.5 BILLION?…. VT’s death gasp was delayed…but numbers don’t lie, Liberals do.. So I push it out (extreme $ crisis) to 4 years or so from now…VT will be seeking some kind of bailout…because they NEVER will cut spending (and Unions demand their still unfunded $4.5 billion)…and they cannot just raise property and income taxes far higher than they are. Only other choice is a Wealth Tax on upper incomes. THAT is when VT goes to full boat Communist and people pour out ASAP . Calif has already proposed one.. It will have to be a bailout, somehow, because STATES cannot declare bankruptcy…only CITIES can. However, The FEDS cannot “bail out” VT, because if they set that precident….NJ, NY, NYC, CT, IL, CA and all other wastrel LIb states will then demand one as well.
Wait and see…I know numbers….VTGON.