what is on this blurb
test content
what is on this blurb
test content
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.
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
Information on March 7, 2024 School Annual Meeting
The annual meeting of the Thornton School District will be on March 7, 2024 at 6:00 PM at the Thornton Central School. This is where the townspeople vote to approve budgets and special items. All items to be voted on are included in the official Warrant. A moderator...
Notes from the school budget hearing 2/7/24. The saga continues with a major twist – update 2/8/24
Notes on the energy improvement (i.e. boiler) project The saga continues with a major change in direction as of February 7, 2024 School Board meeting followed by the budget hearing. It seems the school board has abandoned its initiative to proceed with the project on...
Candidate Profile – Richard Tuttle, Planning Board
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 – Laura Hopkinson, Board of Selectmen
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.
Budget hearings for the town and the school district set at the same date and time!
The Town of Thornton will hold it's budget hearing on February 7 at 6.00 PM at the town hall. The Thornton School District (i.e. the Thornton Central School) will hold its budget hearing on February 7, 2024 at 6.00 PM at the Thornton Central School. How and why are...
Budget hearing for town operations – Feb 7, 2024 at 6.oo PM
See this link Post comments on the budget below.
What is a School Board? What does it do?
The Constitution of the State of New Hampshire Part II, Article 83, which states, "it shall be the duty of the legislators and magistrates, in all future periods of this government, to cherish the interest of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries and public...
Did you know that New Hampshire DOES have an income tax?
See this blog article from the Josiah Bartlett Center HERE
It’s done – and it’s not $3.455 million, it’s now $4.417 million – UPDATED
As we said in previous blog posts, one of our biggest concerns is that the school board was approving something and they don't know what it will cost. At the January 4, 2024 school board meeting we now learned that instead of $3.455 million, the actual cost is $4.417...
Kudos to the Board of Selectmen who held the town budget in check.
If you look at the tax table on the home page, you will see that assessment for the town has actually decreased by 9.7%. TTG thanks and congratulates our board of selectmen for keeping out tax rate down while providing excellent services. Kudos to our board: Peter...
Information on March 7, 2024 School Annual Meeting
The annual meeting of the Thornton School District will be on March 7, 2024 at 6:00 PM at the Thornton Central School. This is where the townspeople vote to approve budgets and special items. All items to be voted on are included in the official Warrant. A moderator...
Notes from the school budget hearing 2/7/24. The saga continues with a major twist – update 2/8/24
Notes on the energy improvement (i.e. boiler) project The saga continues with a major change in direction as of February 7, 2024 School Board meeting followed by the budget hearing. It seems the school board has abandoned its initiative to proceed with the project on...
Candidate Profile – Richard Tuttle, Planning Board
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 – Laura Hopkinson, Board of Selectmen
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.
Budget hearings for the town and the school district set at the same date and time!
The Town of Thornton will hold it's budget hearing on February 7 at 6.00 PM at the town hall. The Thornton School District (i.e. the Thornton Central School) will hold its budget hearing on February 7, 2024 at 6.00 PM at the Thornton Central School. How and why are...
Budget hearing for town operations – Feb 7, 2024 at 6.oo PM
See this link Post comments on the budget below.
What is a School Board? What does it do?
The Constitution of the State of New Hampshire Part II, Article 83, which states, "it shall be the duty of the legislators and magistrates, in all future periods of this government, to cherish the interest of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries and public...
Did you know that New Hampshire DOES have an income tax?
See this blog article from the Josiah Bartlett Center HERE
It’s done – and it’s not $3.455 million, it’s now $4.417 million – UPDATED
As we said in previous blog posts, one of our biggest concerns is that the school board was approving something and they don't know what it will cost. At the January 4, 2024 school board meeting we now learned that instead of $3.455 million, the actual cost is $4.417...
Kudos to the Board of Selectmen who held the town budget in check.
If you look at the tax table on the home page, you will see that assessment for the town has actually decreased by 9.7%. TTG thanks and congratulates our board of selectmen for keeping out tax rate down while providing excellent services. Kudos to our board: Peter...
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: