relative to the conditions for, and procedures for the adoption of, the elderly tax exemption.
HB 1296 raises the income and asset thresholds for New Hampshire's elderly property tax exemption, directly affecting residents aged 65+ who own their homes. It increases the maximum allowable annual income for single seniors from $13,400 to $23,300 (and for married couples from $20,400 to $35,500), while raising the asset limit from $35,000 to $60,900. The bill also requires annual adjustments to these thresholds based on inflation, using the Consumer Price Index, starting in 2026. Municipalities must apply these updated minimums automatically, though they may set higher limits if desired.
Bill status
failed
3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Dec 2025
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House Passage
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Dec 1, 2025
Last action Mar 20, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison
What changed between versions
Introduced
→
As Amended by the House
·
1 edit
MINOR
The House amendment to HB 1296 made a single substantive change: adding the word 'only' to clarify that automatically updated elderly tax exemption thresholds can only increase, never decrease, a municipality's existing exemptions. The remaining changes are formatting and version-tracking (page headers, timestamps, spacing).
REQUIREMENT
Added the word 'only' before 'apply to increase but not to lower' in the provision about how updated threshold amounts affect municipalities that previously adopted the elderly tax exemption. This makes it more explicit that automatic CPI-based updates are one-directional (upward only) and will never reduce a municipality's existing exemption levels.
Floor votes
How they voted
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Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
10
Key actions
2
Committee
3
Amendments
1
Mar 18, 2026
Committee
Committee Report: Inexpedient to Legislate; Vote 5-0; CC; 03/26/2026; SC 11
upper
Feb 9, 2026
Introduced
Introduced 02/05/2026 and Referred to Election Law and Municipal Affairs; SJ 4
upper
Feb 5, 2026
Lower · Passed
Ought to Pass with Amendment 2026-0152h: MA VV 02/05/2026 HJ 3 P. 14
lower
Feb 5, 2026
Introduced
Amendment # 2026-0152h: AA VV 02/05/2026 HJ 3 P. 14
lower
Jan 29, 2026
Lower · Passed
Committee Report: Ought to Pass with Amendment # 2026-0152h 01/20/2026 (Vote 17-1; CC) HC 5 P. 11
lower
Dec 1, 2025
Introduced
Introduced 01/07/2026 and referred to Municipal and County Government HJ 1 P. 14
lower
1 primary · 8 co-sponsors
Sponsors
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