HB 1707-FN
creating an additional property tax for certain unoccupied properties and creating a housing transfer tax exemption for certain low- and moderate-income home buyers.
Official record at gencourt.state.nh.us ↗Open this bill in the searchable view → · Follow this bill by RSS
On the record
Quoted from the General Court bill status page, not worked out from the docket.
| Status | HOUSE |
|---|---|
| In the House | INEXPEDIENT TO LEGISLATE |
| Introduced | 1/7/2026 |
| Floor date | 2/12/2026 |
| LSR number | 2613 |
| Local government impact | no |
| Committee code | H28 |
Where it stands
House: INEXPEDIENT TO LEGISLATE
Every floor vote on this bill was a voice or division vote, so there is no record of how individual legislators voted.
A bill goes on the consent calendar when the committee vote was unanimous or nearly so, and any members who dissented did not object to placing it there. It then passes without floor debate. Ten members may file a petition to pull a bill off the consent calendar and have it debated and voted on separately.
Sponsors
Read, Ellen(D) Rock 10, Howard, Heath(D) Straf 4, Wheeler, Jonah(D) Hills 33
Prime sponsor in bold. From the General Court sponsor file.
What happened
Every action recorded in the official docket, in order. Each line ends with the journal or calendar that recorded it; where we have the document, that citation links to it.
- January 7, 2026Introduced 01/07/2026 and referred to Ways and Means
- January 12, 2026Public Hearing: 01/12/2026 11:00 am GP 159
- January 28, 2026Full Committee Work Session: 01/28/2026 01:00 pm GP 159
- January 28, 2026Executive Session: 01/28/2026 02:00 pm GP 154
- February 2, 2026Committee Report: Inexpedient to Legislate 01/28/2026 (Vote 19-0; CC)
- February 12, 2026Inexpedient to Legislate: MA VV 02/12/2026
Votes
Roll call tallies and individual votes from the General Court roll call files. Presiding, excused and absent are shown separately: one member presides over each House roll call and does not vote except to break a tie.
Inexpedient to Legislate
Decided on a voice vote. Only the outcome was recorded — there is no count of how any member voted.
Committee reports
Reproduced from the House Calendar in the committee’s own words.
Committee — INEXPEDIENT TO LEGISLATE
The committee recommends this bill Inexpedient to Legislate for fairness and technical reasons. The majority opinion is that this is an unfair additional tax on properties already subject to additional taxes that might include Meals and Rooms taxes. Also, it potentially doubles the amount of property taxes due, which might force the sale of properties and devalue surrounding properties as a result of flooding the market. The bill has confusing language and creates questions about how a “one-time exemption” from payment of Real Estate Transfer Tax (RETT) for single home buyers (and sellers) owning no other property and with low or median income would be applied (to the buyer/seller in their lifetime, to the specific property, per tax year, or something else). Another concern was the complexity and cost to municipalities of determining occupancy status in order to enforce this tax. Many of New Hampshire’s smaller towns use part-time town clerks whom the bill expects to determine occupancy based on assumptions, such as tax bills being mailed to addresses other than the “primary” residence. However, this does not consider that many rural towns provide free Post Office boxes to primary homeowners on roads to which the USPS does not deliver mail. Finally, it is difficult to estimate the impact to RETT revenue or property tax revenue, but there would be an estimated $300,000 cost to update Department of Revenue Administration forms and systems. The new tax might jeopardize the ability of families who inherited valuable legacy properties from continuing to afford and pass down these properties to future generations. In addition, there is the unintended consequence of campgrounds or seasonal compounds with multiple residences being subject to this new tax which might cause a forced sale and barrier to re-sale. The supplemental residence tax might unfairly affect owners who travel for work, people planning to retire in New Hampshire, and families who share seasonal residences. Finally, public testimony (in person, written, and online) was overwhelmingly in opposition to this bill. Vote 19-0. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12
Hearings and recordings
Recordings are the General Court’s own, on YouTube. Start times are estimates unless stated otherwise, and the player opens early.
- January 12, 2026 at 11:00Ways and Means public hearing
- January 28, 2026 at 13:00Ways and Means full committee work session recording 3:46:30–3:50:19, about 4 min (estimated)
- January 28, 2026 at 14:00Ways and Means executive session recording 6:01:00–6:01:30, about 0 min (estimated)
- February 12, 2026House floor debate recording (start time not identified)
Page generated 2026-09-03 from data published by the New Hampshire General Court. Granite Record is an independent project, not affiliated with the General Court. The official record always takes precedence. Corrections: [email protected]