[Grant]

Originally Posted by Grady223

Pardon me...I own a home on an island in Alton. I would hardly say that my taxes are low, in fact they are substantially higher than they are for my permanent home in PA. What do I get from Alton for my tax dollars: no police service or no fire service in a time frame that will be of any help, can't send my kids to the schools, no sewers, no sidewalks, no water, no garbage, get my electrical from Wolfeboro and I can't even vote on the budgets. Although I can't say for sure, I would venture a guess that nonresidents pay a substantially higher share of the overall taxes in Alton than residents.

I had previously proposed on this forum that the non-bridged islands in the Lake band together, secede from their towns and counties and form their own with their own tax base, not sure how practical that is. Maybe instead I should propose that Alton provide a lack of services discount to non-bridged island properties - oh, that's right, I can't do that because I am not a resident. Taxation without representation - wasn't that something I had heard was an issue addressed in New England once before?

I have no issues with the way the towns are run, New Englanders are notoriously frugal and I am sure the tax dollars are being spent wisely. I just think that I am paying a disproportionate share of the town's taxes. Oh, and although my house is assessed for what it could have sold for 2 years ago - I doubt it would sell for that now. Considering the economy, how could my assessment have gone up this year?

Grady, you hit the proverbial nail on the head re: disproportional taxes vs. what you get in return & lack of input. In the comparison of your home vs. Winnipesaukee taxes, you should mention that New Hope, PA has relatively high taxes of its own! For Alton to eclipse New Hope really says something.