Next Step in Bedford Tax Fight: Vote on the Contract

New Hampshire Citizens for a Sound Economy (NH CSE) won a key victory late last week after local officials announced that Bedford CSE’s petition qualified for a vote. The successful signature drive comes on the heels of a CSE-led campaign to defeat $45 million in new, unneeded spending in Bedford.

The race is now on for the Bedford CSE group to educate and mobilize local citizen support behind their efforts in advance of a special election later this year.

Bedford CSE collected nearly 1,000 signatures at a booth set-up outside the polls on Election Day that called for a special election to be held on the Manchester tuition contract as a standalone option. The rest of the signatures were collected by CSE volunteers.

Bedford CSE’s Michele Corcoran commented:

“B-CSE has been in the process of collecting signatures that would allow a vote on the Manchester tuition contract as a stand alone vote this spring. Passage of the tuition contract would dramatically reduce the expected jump in the tax rate, which reports put at $4.64 per $1,000 of valued property.”

“Instead, we want to offer Bedford a path forward; to the benefit of both students and taxpayers. We’re glad that the school board has accepted the Bedford CSE petition and will now put the matter before voters later this year.”

“It’s another example of CSE’s successful grassroots activism on taxpayer issues at the local, state, and federal levels.”

Members and the public are invited to visit www.bedfordcse.org or www.cse.org/newhampshire for more information and to join CSE.