New Hampshire is the fastest growing state in New England. Our state loses approximately 13,000 acres per year to development. As recent development pressures indicate, Hancock is not immune to this phenomenon.

Many people are under the false impression that residential growth helps stabilize tax rates; the notion being that the more tax payers you have, the lower the cost per household. Information generated by UNH Cooperative Extension demonstrates that this is false Residential taxes do not typically cover town costs. Quite the contrary, town costs typically exceed tax revenues for residential properties; the point being that RESIDENTIAL GROWTH typically results in an increase in local tax rates.

Ironically, tax revenues typically exceed town costs for open space. i.e. the cost of maintaining the Police Department, Fire Department equipment, highway maintenance, school costs, and water; sewer pipe maintenance. Of these examples of town costs 50% goes to pay to educate the children of Hancock. This is because there are very few town costs associated with maintaining undeveloped and unoccupied tracts of land. As a consequence, tax revenues from open space represent a net profit to communities and in so doing, help reduce or stabilize local tax rates.

Some examples to illustrate these points follow: In Concord, a farm was generating $990/year in taxes above community costs. A 50 lot subdivision proposed for the farm would have cost Concord $508/home/year above the cost of tax revenue.

In Londonderry, a 330 acre orchard was paying $18,830/year above the cost of services, while a proposed 290 lot subdivision of the farm would have cost Londonderry $2,220/home/year.

In Milford, each new three bedroom home reportedly costs the town $2,073 above taxes and fees.

A Squam Lake Study found that growth and development is more likely to escalate tax rates, while land protection tends to stabilize tax rates. Towns with the highest ratio of under-dveloped land per year-round resident have lower tax bills.

In Freemont, Stratham, Deerfield, and Dover, New Hampshire, for every dollar of income generated from the residential sector, $1.04, $1.14, $1.15, and $1.15 was spent in services, respectively. The costs for open space in the same four communities were: $0.36, $0.40, $0.35, and $0.94 respectively.

In 2002 Hancock issued 15 new housing permits.

Open space is an economic asset to local communities. Residential cost typically exceed residential tax revenues, while open space tax revenues typically exceed community costs. If the positive aesthetic, natural resource, recreational and economic values don't convince you that open space is worth preserving, then consider the inflationary impact of residential growth on your annual tax rate, as a compelling reason to "invest" in community held open space.
Mark Ellingwood, Hancock Conservation Commission
Hancock Happenings, August 2003, with permission