THE NH SUPERIOR COURT NEVER DECIDED WHETHER HAMPTON HAD THE LAWFUL AUTHORITY TO TAX

THE SUPERIOR COURT NEVER ANSWERED THE QUESTION THAT MATTERS

This appeal is NOT about property values. It is NOT about tax abatements. It is NOT about reassessments.

It is about one fundamental legal question:

Did the Town of Hampton have the lawful authority to impose property taxes before meeting the statutory and constitutional requirements for lawful valuation?

That question has never been answered.

Instead of deciding whether the Town had legal authority to tax, the Superior Court ruled on entirely different issues—reassessment methods, valuation practices, proportionality, and abatements.

The Town's own appellate brief makes the same mistake. It defends how properties were assessed but never proves the Town first had lawful authority to impose those taxes.

Since the case was dismissed, independent government findings have identified major deficiencies in Hampton's reassessment process, including problems with inspections, data collection, reassessment methodology, and compliance with state law. These findings do not change the appeal—they reinforce why the original legal question deserved to be decided instead of dismissed.

The Appellants are not asking the Supreme Court to reassess anyone's property or lower anyone's taxes.

They are asking for something far more basic:

A court must decide the legal claim that was actually presented—not a different one.

Authority comes first. Valuation comes second. Proportionality comes third. Abatement comes last.

Without first determining whether lawful taxing authority existed, every later issue rests on an assumption the courts never decided.

The Appellants are asking the New Hampshire Supreme Court to reverse the dismissal—or send the case back with instructions that the Superior Court answer the threshold legal question it never addressed.