We Lost Our Stake in Local Business. Here's How We Get It Back.

Remember when we used to talk about how bringing in more business could help offset our property taxes? That wasn't wishful thinking — it was true, at least in part. Towns had a real connection to local business success through the revenue stream the state returned to them. When businesses did well, towns shared in it — and even that modest share was a replacement for the entire local business revenue the state had taken in the first place.

And then Concord took that too.

Today, the only revenue a town sees from a local business is the tax on the land and the buildings that are on it — same as ours. Whether the business is booming or barely surviving, our towns get the same check. There's no upside for us when a local company lands a big contract. No shared loss when one closes its doors.

So why would any town go out of its way to attract new businesses — to zone for them, provide infrastructure for them, smooth the permitting process for them — when the financial reward is exactly the same regardless?

They wouldn't. And why would they? You can't expect towns to behave like partners to local business when the state has made them bystanders instead.

The fix is straightforward.

A modest share of the Business Profits Tax — a small fraction of what the state currently keeps — should flow back to the communities where that business activity happens. The state would still retain the overwhelming majority of BPT revenue. But towns would once again have skin in the game.

The proposal works in two layers. First, a share goes directly to the town where the business operates — restoring that local connection. After all, it's towns that provide the roads, the public safety, and the infrastructure that makes that business activity possible in the first place. Second, an additional share is distributed statewide by population — the way it was originally set up. Every town benefits, not just the ones lucky enough to host a major employer.

This isn't a new idea. It's a commitment the state already made, and then abandoned. Restoring it doesn't require inventing new policy. It requires honoring an old one.

When towns have a reason to want local businesses to succeed, they'll act like it — friendlier permitting, smarter zoning, communities that see a new employer as an opportunity rather than a headache.

We need that connection back.

You Can Make This Happen.

Everyone in Concord has a theory about why your property taxes keep climbing. Some blame the state for shifting costs onto towns. Others blame towns for spending too much. Both sides have been arguing about it for years — and your tax bill keeps going up anyway.

I'm not interested in relitigating that argument. I'm focused on a structural fix that nobody else is proposing: restoring the connection between local business success and local revenue, so towns have a real reason to want businesses to thrive — and making sure every municipality shares in that recovery, not just the lucky few.

If you live in Amherst or Milford and you're ready for a different approach, I'm asking for your vote — and your voice. Talk to your neighbors. Share this. Come find me at a town event.

This is fixable. But only if we send someone to Concord who's actually working on the fix.

Daryl for NH House — Hillsborough District 37