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Welcome to the Thornton (NH) Taxpayers Group website.
A group of concerned citizens got together as a result of the March 20233 issue of the school board trying ram a $17 million project for additions to the school. We decided that our town needed a watchdog group to pay attention to the town’s finances and to make these issues quickly and easily available to the townspeople.
We set up this site because navigating the financial entities for the town is cumbersome and confusing. There are three main components that drive your property taxes:
- Town operations – roads, police, fire, etc
- Thornton Central School – on Route 175, grades K-8, there are about 190 students there as of late 2023
- Plymouth Regional High School – in Plymouth, this is where we educate grades 9-12
At the outset, we are focusing on the town operations and the Thornton Central School operations. Eventually we will include Plymouth Regional High School.
But, there is one more component to your property taxes and that is who your elected officials are. Other than road signs and maybe a Facebook profile, there is no central place where candidates can tell you about themselves. That’s why we’ll added a Candidates page prior to the March elections. Any candicate can submit a 500-word or less bio about themselves, their background and qualifications, and why they want to run.
The data here are mostly drawn from the Town of Thornton 2022 Annual Report. Note that the 2022 annual report was actually produced in the first quarter of 2023.
Important links
- Town website: www.townofthornton.org
- Calendar of all meetings for the town (not including the schools. Calendar: Public Meeting | Thornton NH (townofthornton.org)
- Thornton Central School website: Thornton Central School (pemibaker.org)
Click here to get a list of all town meetings
The town and the school district are considered separate entities. Click here for a list of town meetings, Board of Selectmen, Planning Board, etc.
Click here to get a list of all Thornton Central School meetings
The town and the school district are considered separate entities. The school board of the Thornton Central School normally meets on the fourth Monday of each month at the school at 5.30.
Click here to get a list of all Plymouth Regional High School meetings
The town and the school district are considered separate entities. The school board of the Plymouth Regional High School normally meets on the first Tuesday of each month at the school at 5.00.
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Candidate Profile – Alan Uhlman, Cemetery Trustee
This candidate has been contacted but so far has not chosen to submit a candidate profile. We will leave it up to the voters to see if this is important or not.
Candidate Profile – Bonnie Handt
This candidate has been contacted but so far has not chosen to submit a candidate profile. We will leave it up to the voters to see if this is important or not.
Candidate Profile – Mike Benton, Cemetary Trustee
This candidate has been contacted but so far has not chosen to submit a candidate profile. We will leave it up to the voters to see if this is important or not.
Candidate Profile – Marianne Peabody, Board of Selectmen, 3-yr term
Thornton Voters – My name is Marianne Peabody, and I am running for a seat on the Thornton Board of Selectmen. For voters who do not know me, I moved to Thornton from Massachusetts in 1979 when there were 433 registered voters on our checklist. In 1982 I was asked...
Candidate Profile – Matthew Peltier, Board of Selectmen
My name is Matthew Peltier, and I am running for the one-year Selectboard member term. I was born and raised in NH. I lived in Lincoln and moved to Thornton when I was 19 years old. At the age of 21 I joined the military, serving all over the world including Iraq,...
Candidate Profile – Peter Laufenberg, Board of Selectmen
Hello, Thornton residents, I'm Peter Laufenberg, and I'm honored to run for reelection to the Board of Selectmen. My family came to Thornton in 1984 when my parents bought the Gilcrest Motel and proceeded to spend the next 40 years here. Growing up, receiving an...
Candidate Profile – Myrtle Lewis, Planning Board
My name is Myrtle Lewis and I am running for the Thornton Planning Board for a three-year term. I have regularly been attending the Thornton Planning Board meetings to better understand construction activities and projects that are going on in Thornton. As the Chair...
Notes from the Town budget hearing on Feb 7, 2024
The Board of Selectmen convened at the Town Hall on February 7th to conduct the annual budget hearing the proposed 2024 town budget. The gathering, though lightly attended, drew several department heads, concerned citizens, and representatives from various town...
Required reading before the bond hearing on Feb 20, 2024
If passed at the March 7, 2024 school board annual meeting, the town will float a 20-yr municipal bond in July, 2024. The New Hampshire Municipal Bond Bank bundles all community bond debt into one offering which is then offered to the public. We are not issuing our...
Candidates for Selectboard
There are three slots for Selectboard. Two for the regular 3-yr term and one for a 2-yr term to fill a vacant position.Candidates for the 1-yr term: Matt Peltier and Laura Hopkinson. The listings below are in the order received to TTG. Matt Peltier - My name is...
Candidate Profile – Alan Uhlman, Cemetery Trustee
This candidate has been contacted but so far has not chosen to submit a candidate profile. We will leave it up to the voters to see if this is important or not.
Candidate Profile – Bonnie Handt
This candidate has been contacted but so far has not chosen to submit a candidate profile. We will leave it up to the voters to see if this is important or not.
Candidate Profile – Mike Benton, Cemetary Trustee
This candidate has been contacted but so far has not chosen to submit a candidate profile. We will leave it up to the voters to see if this is important or not.
Candidate Profile – Marianne Peabody, Board of Selectmen, 3-yr term
Thornton Voters – My name is Marianne Peabody, and I am running for a seat on the Thornton Board of Selectmen. For voters who do not know me, I moved to Thornton from Massachusetts in 1979 when there were 433 registered voters on our checklist. In 1982 I was asked...
Candidate Profile – Matthew Peltier, Board of Selectmen
My name is Matthew Peltier, and I am running for the one-year Selectboard member term. I was born and raised in NH. I lived in Lincoln and moved to Thornton when I was 19 years old. At the age of 21 I joined the military, serving all over the world including Iraq,...
Candidate Profile – Peter Laufenberg, Board of Selectmen
Hello, Thornton residents, I'm Peter Laufenberg, and I'm honored to run for reelection to the Board of Selectmen. My family came to Thornton in 1984 when my parents bought the Gilcrest Motel and proceeded to spend the next 40 years here. Growing up, receiving an...
Candidate Profile – Myrtle Lewis, Planning Board
My name is Myrtle Lewis and I am running for the Thornton Planning Board for a three-year term. I have regularly been attending the Thornton Planning Board meetings to better understand construction activities and projects that are going on in Thornton. As the Chair...
Notes from the Town budget hearing on Feb 7, 2024
The Board of Selectmen convened at the Town Hall on February 7th to conduct the annual budget hearing the proposed 2024 town budget. The gathering, though lightly attended, drew several department heads, concerned citizens, and representatives from various town...
Required reading before the bond hearing on Feb 20, 2024
If passed at the March 7, 2024 school board annual meeting, the town will float a 20-yr municipal bond in July, 2024. The New Hampshire Municipal Bond Bank bundles all community bond debt into one offering which is then offered to the public. We are not issuing our...
Candidates for Selectboard
There are three slots for Selectboard. Two for the regular 3-yr term and one for a 2-yr term to fill a vacant position.Candidates for the 1-yr term: Matt Peltier and Laura Hopkinson. The listings below are in the order received to TTG. Matt Peltier - My name is...
Please join our mailing list:
We won’t bombard you with emails, just important stuff that you will want to know about.
On November 28, 2023, the property tax rate for 2024 was announced. Here is a comparison to last year.
| 2024 | 2023 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| County | $1.71 | $1.59 | +7.5% |
| Schools | $13.53 | $12.92 | +4.7% |
| Town Operations | $3.82 | $4.23 | -9.7% |
| State Education | $1.70 | $1.27 | +33.9% |
| $20.76 | $20.01 | +3.75% |
In a nutshell, here are the operating budgets for the three entities for 2023
Town operating budget
$4,237,039
2022 Annual Report, page 86
Thornton Central School Budget
$5,728,362
2022 Annual Report, page 141
Plymouth Regional High School Budget
$2,336,058
2022 Annual Report, page 103
Remember that the above are operating budgets, the expense side of the equation. Each entity also has revenue streams other than property taxes. For example, the town receives money from car registration fees and the like, and the schools get reimbursements from the state and federal governments. This next table shows the net amount each entity needs to collect via property taxes.
| Entity | Amount | Amount per thousand | Percent of total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Town operations | $1,915,410 | $4.10 | 20.5% |
| Thornton Central and Plymouth Regional schools | $5,866,560 | $12.92 | 64.6% |
| County operations | $722,438 | $1.59 | 7.9% |
| Contribution to state education fund | $566,910 | $1.27 | 6.3% |
| Total | $9,071,318 | $20.01 | 100% |
These data were from mid-November, 2022. The new rate will be published in mid-November, 2023.
The town reports are HERE. Remember that the reports are labeled for the previous year. For example, the 2023 report is for fiscal/calendar year 2022.
If you are interested in how the town assesses your property, see this document from 2019. This “Revaluation Manual” is updated every five years and is being updates in Q4, 2023
The town funds operations via various sources of income including taxes and fees but the bulk of them are raised via property taxes.
The calculation is simple. Just take the total dollars the town needs, for example in 2022 that was about $9.1 million and divide it by the town’s total taxable property. Here the info for the total taxable property Q4 of each year:
Q4, 2023 = $462 million
Q4, 2022 = $440 million
Q4, 2021 = $427 million
This information is contained in a document entitled MS1 and is filed with the state. As of November, 2023, see HERE. These data are included in the town’s annual report.
There is a page for each entity that provides more detail.
This website is brought to you by the Thornton Taxpayers Group. We welcome thoughts and suggestions for the site. Send suggestions to info@thorntontaxpayers.com
We welcome comments on this site and suggestions on improvement. Please contact us: