Many years ago, someone said that all politics is local. Perhaps. Those of you who read my humble words each week will also note that this post is coming to you one day earlier than usual. This is deliberate because I just can’t wait to share a little side interest I have going on at the moment. No, Brenda, it’s not how many Mexican restaurants you can visit in one day, and no, it’s not about having postcards mailed to my kids. (BUT thank you for that….last summer the kids got postcards from 4 countries and almost 30 states…but not one from Mass….so I’m calling out all of my friends who live there for being lame).
My side interest is about my tax money and how and where it is being spent.
I live in New Hampshire, and have for most of my life. We pride ourselves on having no state sales or income tax. Perhaps people living in other places didn’t even know that and perhaps they assume that since New Hampshire is a small state by land mass and population, that we do just fine without the revenue from sales or income taxes being levied.
The majority of New Hampshire residents own property and THAT is what is taxed hard in lieu of a state sales tax/income tax. My .5 acre in Salem is a shade under $10,000 a year. This is my primary residence. The town voted, over time, to renovate all the schools here, so we have multiple bonds out for hundreds of millions of dollars for at least the next 25-30 years that we need to pay for. The town also has a large amount of commercial property, about 30,000 people, a bit of industry and a ton of small businesses. My argument is not how high or low the taxes are….read on….
My family is also lucky enough to have lakefront property in Enfield with no permanent residence on it. Those property taxes are tipping out at $20,000 a year. This is all public record, so I’m not telling you anything that you can’t search for.
Finally, because my family works hard, has saved for more than 25 years, and have chosen to invest in future Moeschen generations, we have been fortunate enough to gather some more land (also in NH) where the property taxes come to another $8,000 per year. I cannot vote in those town elections, since I live in Salem, so that tax money kind of comes under “taxation without representation.” I also realize that I do not NEED to have multiple properties, and so the argument holds that if I want to pay less, then I should shut up and own less. So be it.
This writing is not a bitch fest about taxes being high. Instead, since I contribute almost $40,000 a year to the state of New Hampshire, I have an interest in where it goes and how our elected officials are providing oversight after it has gone where it goes.
NH has the largest state legislature in the U.S. — but it’s also the least professionalized.
- 400 House members and 24 Senators serve ~1.4 million residents.
- By comparison, California (39 million people) has 80 Assembly members and 40 Senators.
NH legislators earn $100 a year plus mileage — making it essentially a volunteer legislature.
So this is great! We have so many people elected to represent us that we can ALL be heard right? Here in my town of not quite 30,000, I have one state senator and 9 members of the house that represent me. It’s even cooler that the current state senator is an old student of mine. Same with 2 current reps! Two more reps were colleagues of mine when I was teaching, and yet a couple more are parents of students that I had in school. My point is that I know the majority of them personally, and I respect their want to go into state government to do positive things.
Earlier this year, the state of New Hampshire passed a school choice law. I don’t agree with it, as I have strong opinions about education in general, but that is STILL not the point of this whole post.
The point is oversight. My tax money is now being spent in several areas of education that is not public education. Therefore, I have asked for oversight in the form of reporting as to how and where my dollars are going.
I sent a letter to my 9 reps, as they are the ones who can ask for bills to be drafted for the next session of the state government.
No replies at all, save for one.
The one email I got back told me that it would be best to send it to the rep. who serves on the education committee. I had already done that and I let the rep. know that I had sent my letter requesting oversight to all 9 reps.
Just yesterday I asked the only rep. who answered me to follow up with the rep. who sits on the education committee. I realize that the window to ask for legislation to be drafted is short, and, in fact, it is now closed.
Here is the full response:
Good Morning,
I have not forgotten about responding to your email. I’m doing some homework before getting back to you. Please allow me a bit of time. At this time the window closed on 9/19/2025 for filing bills for this session. There is always next year.
Kind regards,
XXXXXXXX
I wonder what would happen if I put those words on my tax forms? Sorry guys, I don’t know where my money is really going, so I’ll just pay next year.
I will still push for support if a legislator from another town has requested a draft bill on school spending oversight with regard to school choice. I hope that we can all learn where and how the money is being spent with transparency so we can fairly evaluate how things are going.
In the meantime, lack of response from people who I have personal relationships with will be what is foremost in my mind the next time I go to the ballot box in Salem.
Stay safe, stay awesome, and stay informed. Your tax money goes to a lot of local places too. Do you know where? Do some research…I would love to know.
Patrick moeschen 
Only in America:)