Originally Posted by Crusty
New Hampshire, especially the lakes region, has an interesting economy. Having owned property on the big lake and married into a family that's owned two lake front cottages for over a century, I can state that the taxes never go down --and increase steadily. The general attitude is "let's tax the rich summer people from out of state". Lake front property commands a high price and lots of wealthy people are happy to invest in it bulldoze it, and construct their McMansions. This brings the value of my 1940's unheated, uninsulated, wooden cottage (on a nearly unbuildable lot) to a level higher than my modern 6 bedroom home in Ohio.
The only time the taxes went down was when we had the property professionally appraised (using the Town's appraisal firm). After over-ruling some of the appraisal, we did get a reduction in the increase the Town was seeking. This lasted one year; next year, right back up. Fair enough. We sold out (for less that we paid) and are now throwing money at the "family" property.
Now, the "unintended consequences" -- and there are several. First of all, many of the rich out-of-staters care nothing about maintaining the area. Examples include deforestation (just pay the fine), and dumping lots of fertilizer on their lake-adjacent manicured lawns. Locals generally are more concerned with maintaining the lakes and general area.
Those who are wealthy enough to own large McMansions on the lake frequently spend little time there. I know of a couple beautiful new places that would see occupants for a couple weeks each year. Other than taxes, not much money spent locally.
When a large part of an economy relies on out-of-state people dropping their money in the summer, it means that the rest of the economy must take up the slack during the rest of the year, Hence an annual boom-bust cycle that prunes out restaurants, retail, and anything else that can't sustain itself through the lean months.
An insufficient labor force is yet another manifestation of the problem. People tend to want jobs that allow them to live all year long and not just during the tourist season. Relying on college students and imported foreign workers is not an optimal solution, as demonstrated by the many posts on this forum.
The solution would seem to be a transition to "more residents; fewer transients". Certainly keep some tourist trade, leveling it out over the seasons. But encourage year-round residents with their year-round money to spend. Perhaps it's time to abandoned the mythical "no income tax in New Hampshire" [but plenty of property, sales, excise, food, etc., taxes] and develop a balanced tax system. It would be nice if more local people could afford to live year-round on (and near) the lake, rather than reserving these properties for the summer people.
Rant over. I've got to finish packing for tomorrow's trip to the lake. Sorry to see lots of my favorite restaurants are gone. At least Lyons Den and Ellacoya made it though the winter. Also glad Pops has enough workers to remain.
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