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Old 06-04-2023, 09:13 AM   #76
John Mercier
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Because the State is the taxing authority...
It would need to change the law to allow a local municipality to have non-residents vote on only that local taxation. They still couldn't be involved in the county or State part of the taxation (the State part most likely to become much larger as the ConVal lawsuit is not going well for the State).

The State would also need to carefully define the option within a constitutionally valid format.
For instance... every shareholder of Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes... etc are taxpayers in the town of Gilford. Optioning a voting right, while denying them the right could prove constitutionally rife with lawsuits and damages.

Allowing them to vote, could cause a logistical nightmare for the town.
Also, most residents... those that would need to make the change after the State would allow it... may question whether non-residents have the collective best interest of the town.

So it is a very tall order to change the process that NH has used since it was a province of the crown.
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