Another education funding lawsuit brought against NH
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Jun. 29—CONCORD — A trio of taxpayers in Plymouth and Penacook have brought another school funding lawsuit against the state, this one challenging the varying tax burdens across New Hampshire to pay for education.
A coalition of lawyers are representing the taxpayers, including Andru Volinsky and John Tobin. The two were part of a legal team that convinced the Supreme Court to rule in 1997 that the state had to increase aid to schools to reduce the over-reliance on local property taxes.
The key focus of the latest suit is the widely varying rates of taxes used to fund schools, a responsibility spelled out in the New Hampshire Constitution and Claremont I (1993) and Claremont II (1997) decisions, Tobin said.
"We asked for a big change, and big change takes time," Volinksy said Wednesday.
Filed Tuesday in Grafton County Superior Court, the lawsuit names three plaintiffs who face high burdens to fund schools because their towns have low property values.
For example, plaintiff Steven Rand lives in Plymouth. The town has only $942,600 in property values to fund the education for each one of its students; nearby Waterville Valley has tax more than five times that value — $5.4 million.
The statewide average is $1.3 million.
According to Volinsky's team, the legal issues in the latest lawsuit complement the ongoing school funding lawsuit brought by the ConVal Regional School District.
Last year the Supreme Court sent that case back to a lower court for a full trial on the facts.
The case is scheduled for trial in April in Cheshire County Superior Court, and Volinsky said the two cases could be consolidated, given the straightforward nature of his case.
But the lawyer in the ConVal case disputed that notion.
The ConVal case deals with whether the state provides adequate funding for education, said Manchester lawyer Michael Tierney. The Volinsky case is a tax case.
"They're two distinct cases," Tierney said. He has already provided 500,000 pages of documents to the state as part of the discovery process, he said.
The lawsuit names a single defendant — the state of New Hampshire. Volinsky, who lost in the Democratic primary for governor two years ago, is bringing a lawsuit in a year when Republican Gov. Chris Sununu faces a stiff challenge.
Will the lawsuit have an impact on the race?
"That will be up to the public to hold the candidates accountable, and the candidates to make a decision to be accountable," Volinsky said.
Two of the other taxpayers bringing suit are from Penacook, an incorporated village of Concord.
Robert Gabrielli is a retired physician who owns commercial property in Penacook, while Jessica and Adam Russell also live there. Jessica Russell is an at-large member of the Merrimack Valley School Board.
School property taxes in Penacook were $16.74 per $1,000 of assessed valuation for the 2020-2021 school year; the school taxes for the same year in the rest of Concord were $13.81, the lawsuit said.
The Education Law Center, a leading advocate for equitable educational opportunity, is also supporting the suit along with a third attorney, Natalie Laflamme.
"Effective and sustained advocacy is essential to ensure that all children have access to a high quality and equitable public education. Sustainable funding is a key part of the equation," said Gregory Little with the Education Law Center.
