Campers fight back against campsite tax hike

From New Hampshire’s woods to the state house, campers, vans and campground owners are infurated over a proposed tax on their vacation plots.

Seven Maples Campground owner Scott Christophers says “to slide us in there effectively gives us a brand new tax, not an increase.”

House budget writers last week approved a hike in the rooms and meals tax from eight to nine percent and voted to include campsites – previously untaxed – in the code.

Tom Irving owns Oxbow Campground in Deering and believes the measure is “gonna be an impact on tourism and van hire in the state of New Hampshire, it’s gonna be an impact on restaurants, it’s gonna be an impact on people that come here and they buy stuff.”

Several other states tax campgrounds as standard lodging. The Department of Revenue Administration recommended bringing New Hampshire in line with those states, and house budget writer Rep. Majorie Smith (D-Durham) “thought that was a good idea to help close the loop hole particularly because one of the things we’re doing with the rooms and meals increase is allocating funds to travel and tourism.”

But long time Seven Maples camper Dottie Nelson thinks, “the campgrounds are going to find fewer and fewer campers coming because of the tax, also decreasing the sales vans for sale and used vans.”

Seasonal campers would take the biggest hit. They pay about $2,000 to stay the entire summer and would fork over additional $180 in taxes.

The seasonal campers makeup more than half of Bill Naylor’s customers at Idle Times Campground in Washington. “I could lose campers,” he says. “That means a loss of revenue for my business, that could mean loss of my business. ”
Campground owners say there’s no basis for them to charge the tax because they provide neither rooms nor meals. Campers bring their own accommodations and take care of their own food.

Christophers says, “I just provide a piece of land that is already taxed heavily.”

Christophers and his wife believe, despite their best objections, a tax is inevitable. But they think zero to nine percent is a little drastic. He would prefer lawmakers, “introduce it slowly as to not shock the industry. As to not damage the industry. We’re already fragile.”

But Rep. Smith says, “if we don’t have the roads paved, no one is going to get to the campground. It does cost money, we can’t print the money, we have to find the fairest way to do it.”

If lawmakers approve the budget on Wednesday, the tax would take effect July 1st.