Property Tax Alert: New Hampshire

April 2008

A pollution control facility was not exempt from New Hampshire property taxes because the statutory amendments to RSA 72:12-a, which stated the exemption did not apply to facilities located at landfills, were not a violation of the legislature's taxing authority or equal protection, and the amendments extinguished any right to claim past exemptions. The exemption was proper under the taxing authority because the statute differentiated between uses of property, and not owners of property, based on a public interest in discouraging landfills. Additionally, the classification of taxpayers was not unconstitutional because the classification was rationally related to the legitimate state interest of providing incentives for industry to construct pollution control facilities and denying an exemption for a disfavored use. Also, since the intent of the legislature was to remove an exemption, exemptions previously granted were no longer applicable under the amendments.

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