Property value represents one of the most important stocks of wealth in New Hampshire Communities. It is the primary means by which municipalities raise revenue to pay for public services such as schools, public safety, and road maintenance. If the value of assessed property decreases in a community, one of two things must occur. Either taxes need to increase in order to maintain revenue or the budget cuts must made in order to compensate for shortfalls.

Across the Monadnock Region, we see a startling trend: in most towns, property value has fallen over the last decade. This could be due to a number of reasons, including (among other potential causes): aging, deteriorating structures; a lack of new development; changing property assessment practices; diminished market value of certain property types; expanded use of property tax exemptions; and property put into current use status (RSA 79-A).

The chart below depicts net property tax value, or property tax value after exemptions and current use status have been accounted for. Only four communities in Southwest NH have see an increase in net property tax value over the last decade: Rindge, Windsor, Winchester, and Peterborough.