The Portsmouth Hereld editorializes against cost-shifting in the state budget, as Governor Lynch's plan scoops up federal stimulus money slated for cities and towns:
We are rapidly learning as Lynch's budget makes its way through the Legislature that much of the federal money will be filtered through state agencies, and those agencies will be taking the majority of the funding for state projects, such as the repaving of a portion of Route 101, and precious little will be left for the cities and towns.
Add to that cuts to the rooms and meals taxes returned to municipalities, the complete elimination of revenue sharing and an decrease in the percentage the state pays into the retirement system, and town officials are becoming more and more anxious about what all this will do to the tax rates they worked so hard to keep low this year.
The Herald concludes that Lynch is attempting to balance the state budget on the backs of local taxpayers:
That the state has financial problems we have no doubt, but the governor should not attempt to rectify that situation by further burdening New Hampshire citizens already struggling to make ends meet.
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