NEW-HAMPSHIRES TAX-BASE LIMITS - AN EXAMPLE OF THE LEVIATHAN MODEL

This study views the lack of an income tax on wages and salaries and a general sales tax in New Hampshire as tax-base limits. I use the Levi athan model to analyze the differences between the fiscal system in Ne w Hampshire and the fiscal systems in Vermont, Maine, and Massachusett s. Vermont, Maine, and Massachusetts do not have the tax-base limits t hat New Hampshire has. From 1957 to 1989, New Hampshire had lower stat e and local government tax and expenditure levels than the other three states, more rapid population growth, lower welfare expenditures but comparable levels of expenditures for several of the major public serv ices, and a more competitive structure of state and local government.