All over Portsmouth, people have begun wearing a button that indicates the percentage of increase in taxes that the city government, with the support of the so-called Progress Portsmouth Committee, is trying to put over on property owners. The city auditor Trent Williams and the Progress Portsmouth Committee deny that it is an increase; they claim the 440% is simply a continuation of the existing property tax. They are not telling the truth.
The current 2008 property tax in Portsmouth is .7 mills. If the voters approve the City Center/Justice Center projects on November 4, the property tax will increase to 3.8 mills. That is more than a 440% increase, and that increase will continue for 30 years, from 2010 to 2040. Don’t let the city government and the Progress Portsmouth Committee bamboozle you into thinking otherwise. Vote No on the Marting/Adelphia projects, as in the sample ballot below:
