Bristol Tax Rate Increases 4%

School District Cyber Attack Delayed Setting 2024 Taxes

Members of the Bristol Select Board discuss the 2024 property tax rate. (Screenshot)

BRISTOL — The NH Department of Revenue Administration has set Bristol’s 2024 property tax rate at $23.62 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, an increase of 87 cents, or 4 percent, from last year.

The select board voted on December 19 to apply $500,000 of its overlay — an amount set aside to cover abatements, exemptions, and uncollected taxes — to limit the rise in this year’s municipal tax rate. That resulted in a rate of $9.75 per $1,000, an increase of 22 cents, or 2 percent, from 2023.

The DRA recommends setting aside between 5 and 17 percent of the operating budget in the overlay as a buffer against unexpected costs such as court settlements. The withdrawal puts Bristol’s overlay at 10 percent. Members of the select board considered applying more of the overlay against expenditures to hold the tax rate steady, counting on the anticipated sale of the Lake Street fire station and a property on Merrimack Street to replenish the overlay account in the coming year. Town Administrator Christina Goodwin cautioned against doing so because of a likely boost in school taxes next year when four towns will be responsible for paying costs currently covered by seven towns in the Newfound Area School District. Three towns will begin operating their own school district as of July 1, 2025.

The local school tax rate for 2024 is $10, an increase of 57 cents, or 6 percent from 2023.