Bow is Becoming Unaffordable
Thursday, February 13, 2014
As we are faced with proposals for higher spending and taxes again in Bow this year, we should consider the declining value of the coal-powered power plant.
The valuation of PSNH’s Merrimack Station recently dropped by another $50 million. From 1996 to the present, the assessed value of Merrimack Station has dropped from $303 million to just under $100 million. Because of market conditions and federal policies disfavoring coal as a fuel, Merrimack Station no longer generates power year round. Bow can no longer assume that Merrimack Station will be a substantial contributor to the tax base.
As the valuation of Merrimack Station declines, owners of residential properties will have to bear the brunt of any higher spending and taxes.
In 2012 the state Department of Revenue Administration’s ranking of the state’s 225 cities and towns by property tax burden placed Bow at No. 202, giving us the dubious distinction of being in the “Terrible 10 Percent” of most highly taxed towns. That places us in the company of economically distressed communities like Berlin (No. 225), Gorham (No. 220), Newport (No. 206), and Pittsfield (No. 223).
Those of us who moved to Bow from Concord for property tax relief can only cast an envious eye at Concord’s mediocre ranking of No. 141. The culture of borrowing and spending that has sprung up in Bow is making the town unaffordable for those with moderate and fixed incomes. It needs to stop before Bow turns into an elite enclave in which only the well-heeled can afford to pay the taxes.
Bryan K. Gould, Bow