Mike Belcher turned on his ringer and apologized as he sat down to testify. His wife was due to go into labor and he didn’t want to miss a call.

The lawmaker, a Wakefield Republican, has a strong concern that doesn’t affect his young family just yet – older New Hampshire residents losing their houses due to rising property tax bills. 

“I do not want to see our seniors being evicted from modest homes they already own because they can’t afford outrageous taxes being levied,” he said.

With that, Belcher proposed a solution: a broad sweeping property tax exemption for homeowners over the age of 72.

House Bill 101, which Belcher sponsored with Loudon Republican representative Mike Moffett as a cosponsor, introduces an elderly home exemption that local communities could vote to adopt.

It would deduct $530,000 from a property’s assessed value – the current median home price in New Hampshire – for homeowners 72 or older. In other words, anyone with a home below this amount in communities that enact the exemption would not pay local property taxes. 

Unlike other tax exemptions or credits where income is a factor for eligibility, the only two qualifying requirements for Belcher’s plan are that a resident has lived in New Hampshire for at least 10 consecutive years and owned the property for at least two years.

“This bill is designed to create a light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. “It is an effort to create a set of circumstances tied to advanced age under which you would no longer have to pay a yearly rent check to the government just to keep the home that you probably already own outright.”

Belcher knows the proposition is generous and would prove costly to local coffers. Yet he sees a clear trade-off: older family members would be incentivized to age in place at home, as opposed to a county nursing home facility or more expensive private retirement community.

The average life expectancy in New Hampshire is 78.5 years old, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention based on 2021 data, the most recent available.

With that, the age requirement of 72 years old was intentional, said Belcher.

“It almost seems arbitrary, except there was an awful lot of research in order to try to balance the desire to limit the tax of an elderly person so they can stay in their home versus the immediate impact to local revenues,” he said.

New Hampshire already offers a senior exemption – with different deductions available for residents who qualify beginning at 65 years old. Residents over the age of 65 – or those receiving Social Security disability – who have owned a home for at least five years can also defer payment of their tax bill for an annual rate of 5 percent with one caveat – the deferred taxes can not exceed 85 percent of the property value.

With exemptions, though, it’s up to local communities to adopt how much should be forgiven and set income guidelines beyond the state’s suggested metric of $13,400 for a single person and $20,400 for a married couple. 

Bow offers one of the most generous elderly exemptions statewide – with deductions starting at $122,000 for homeowners over the age of 65. Income eligibility also exceeds the state baseline with residents needing to make no more than $38,500 if single and $50,000 if married.

In 2023, the town of Bow exempted $4.78 million in taxes through the elderly option. As a whole, communities around the state reduced assessments by $1.13 billion for qualifying homeowners, according to data from the Department of Revenue Administration.

Rep. Eleana Colby, a Bow Democrat and vice chair of the town select board, questioned Belcher how his proposal would add to the billion dollars of property already exempt. 

That estimate is hard to predict, due to the numerous hypothetical factors at play, said Belcher. First, a town has to vote – either by a city council or by warrant at Town Meeting – to adopt the exemption. After that, homeowners must apply and be approved to receive the benefit.

“I have no doubt that it would increase it,” he said. “By exactly how much, I don’t know.”

To Brodie Deshaies, a legislative advocate for the New Hampshire Municipal Association, said giving towns like Bow the power to adopt or refuse these exemptions is the type of local control the association typically supports. But that doesn’t mean they support every local option.

With Belcher’s proposal, the inevitable shift in local tax distribution for towns that chose to adopt the exemption is cause for concern.

“There would be a large tax burden shift from those who would now be exempted from paying property taxes to those who will have to continue to pay property taxes,” Deshaies said.

State law in New Hampshire allows for homeowners to lose ownership of their properties if they don’t pay their taxes for three years. A Monitor analysis of 10 years of tax deed transfers – where municipalities claimed ownership of a property – found that nearly 4,000 properties were impacted from 2013 to 2023.

But homeowners impacted were often in the same circumstance – they had retired, paid off their mortgage and were living on a fixed income. After a medical incident or family death, their income shifted and they fell behind, risking ownership of their property, which was often their only asset of value.

This is the scenario that Belcher is trying to avoid with his bill, guaranteeing the right for aging New Hampshire residents to retain ownership of their property regardless of their income in retirement.

But to Deshaies, the trade-off of paying taxes is an inherent part of life.

“Tax exemptions are popular. No one likes paying taxes,” he said. “But we recognize we have to pay taxes for basic services that society needs to function.”

Tax credits, exemptions and deferrals

Property tax deferrals: Applications for tax deferrals are due February 28 and application materials can be found online at: https://www.revenue.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt736/files/documents/pa-30_pro.pdf or requested by calling the Department of Revenue Administration at 603-230-5001. Town and city offices may also have copies available upon request.

Property tax abatements based on hardship or poverty: Property taxes may be reduced or waived (“abated”) by a town or city if the taxpayer is able to show an inability to pay taxes.

The deadline for applying for an abatement with the assessors or Selectmen is March 1 following the final tax bill for the year. The assessors or Selectmen may also abate prior year’s taxes for good cause.

Applications are available through the Board of Land and Tax Appeals: https://www.btla.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt601/files/inline-documents/sonh/abatement.pdf or by calling the Board of Tax and Land Appeals at 603-271-2578. Town or city offices may have copies available upon request and some municipalities mail to and require taxpayers to complete an inventory form by April 15 of the preceding year as a precondition to an abatement request.

Tax exemptions and credits: The deadline for applying for tax exemptions or credits (including exemptions for older homeowners and credits for veterans, and optional exemptions for people who are legally blind, deaf/hearing impaired, or who have other disabilities) for 2025 property taxes is April 15, 2025.

Applications can be found through the Department of Revenue and Administration: https://www.revenue.nh.gov/resource-center/current-year-forms-and-instructions under property or by emailing Forms@dra.nh.gov or calling the Forms Line at (603) 230-5001.

Homeowners who need advice about property tax relief can contact 603 Legal Aid by submitting an online application at www.603LegalAid.org or by calling (603) 224-3333 between the hours of 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., Monday through Thursday.

A New Hampshire man is under investigation for possible civil rights violations.

Frank Hobbs Jr. is accused of swiping someone else’s signs supporting gay rights.

New Hampshire authorities say Hobbs was caught on camera stealing signs from a Goffstown intersection.

A woman had lawfully placed signs in support of the LGBTQ community, and when one of them disappeared, she decided to do some detective work.

“She set up a trail camera to monitor the intersection and make sure her signs weren’t taken down,” said Senior Assistant New Hampshire Attorney General Sean Locke.

Sure enough, that camera recorded another theft taking place.

“She was able to capture someone on video coming to the intersection removing the signs and driving away,” said Locke.

It happened last June during Pride Month, and the New Hampshire Department of Justice has now filed a complaint against Hobbs accusing him of civil rights violations.

Local law enforcement said he was easily recognizable because he’s well known in the community.

According to court documents, Hobbs denied knowing anything about the incident, but when informed there were photos, he said he’d been told by people at Town Hall he could remove signs that displayed “pedophile symbols” and that he found the signs offensive.

“These identity-based or bias-based behaviors and unlawful acts create a perception in the community that this may not be a safe place if you’re a person who identifies as LGBTQ+ if these signs are getting torn down,” said Locke.

Hobbs has not returned multiple requests for comment.

He will have a hearing and is facing thousands of dollars in fines depending on what a judge decides.

Welcome to 2025. May it be the most boring year ever.

Over the holidays, I taped a segment of “New Hampshire’s Business” with WMUR veteran Fred Kocher and Business NH Magazine editor Matt Mowry. It was time for Fred’s annual “crystal ball” episode, so we were prepped to talk about the year ahead.

The morning of the taping, I looked up last year’s episode to make sure I didn’t wear the same tie again. I also wanted a refresher on what we talked about. Big surprise: lack of housing, lack of child care — challenges that follow us into 2025.

I was also reminded that I participated remotely via Zoom for the December 2023 episode: I was in quarantine with my second case of COVID-19, though I suffered no symptoms (unlike my wife).

This year marks the fifth anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic, a worldwide outbreak blamed for the deaths of more than 7 million people, including 1.2 million in the United States and about 3,000 in New Hampshire.

COVID-19 upended every aspect of our lives. It shut down many businesses for months and spiked unemployment in New Hampshire to nearly 17%. We became instant converts to Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex and Google Meet and dusted off Skype. Social distancing became our mantra. It seemed like every idle manufacturing plant started pumping out hand sanitizer.

We started working remotely from home and were distracted regularly by the sound of delivery trucks for Amazon, FedEx and UPS racing up and down our streets, dropping off important merchandise, like toilet paper and Lysol.

Fred, Matt and I didn’t have time to talk about the pandemic during the five-minute “New Hampshire’s Business” segment, a rapid-fire program where we try to pour a gallon of news into a tiny cup.

It’s been on my mind as USA 500, a business networking group I belong to, plans its annual ski day at Loon Mountain Resort. Five years ago this February, our group was gathered in a private meeting room during which the conversation was peppered with talk about a strange flu outbreak that was hitting nursing homes in the Pacific Northwest. It seemed so far away and hardly something for local concern.

COVID-19 never went away. We’ve just learned to live with it. Businesses, including restaurants, retailers and health care providers, are still grappling with a shortage of workers. Businesses and consumers are still battling high prices that spiked during the pandemic and are only now beginning to stabilize.

What will this year’s unknown factors be? Check out longtime columnist Brad Cook’s latest “Cook on Concord” column for a refresher on what President-elect Donald Trump has on his to-do list — any of which has the potential to have a major impact on the economy.

The issues we did touch upon during our TV talk included how new Gov. Kelly Ayotte and the Legislature will address state revenue shortfalls as they create the next two-year state budget, the state’s continuing battle with opioid addiction and homelessness, and business concerns about cybersecurity. On the upside, we noted the rise of New Hampshire’s life sciences industry and the importance of the state’s health care industry.

My wish for “the most boring year ever” means only one where we aren’t blindsided by world events. With two major wars that show no signs of ending and acts of terror becoming commonplace both abroad and in the Unites States, we know to brace ourselves for some level of chaos.

When I finished the first draft of this column, the L.A. fires that have destroyed more than 12,000 structures and killed at least 24 people had yet to ignite. Chaos, sadly, found California right away this year.

The challenges we face in New Hampshire are not easily solved but within reach if we keep trying. As the giant sign inside the Life is Good T-shirt production center in Hudson reminds me, they are, like most everything else, “figureoutable.”

Talking about housing

NeighborWorks Southern New Hampshire has invited me to speak at its annual breakfast, 7:30 to 9 a.m., March 27, at the Manchester Country Club in Bedford. (Check out nwsnh.org. for ticket information.)

So far, I have a title for my talk — “Homeward Bound: Housing — and lots of it — is key to NH’s future.”

NeighborWorks Southern New Hampshire has more than 500 apartments in its rental portfolio. The nonprofit serves 81 communities and has housed more than 1,600 people.

If you have some housing news or ideas you’d like to share, please send them along to mikecote@yankeepub.com.