November 4, 2010
Thirty years ago, Citizens for Limited Taxation placed Proposition 2˝ on the ballot for voter approval. We collected the first round of voter signatures in the fall of 1979, waited for the inevitable legislation rejection (155-5 in the House) in May, then collected more signatures and placed the petition on the November ballot.
The campaign was intense: CLT and its allies the Massachusetts High Technology Council, the Massachusetts branch of the National Federation of Independent Business, and the Massachusetts Auto Dealers against the entire political, educational, and Big Business
establishment. On November 4, the same night that Ronald Reagan was elected President, we won 59-41 and the rest is, literally, Massachusetts history.
Proposition 2˝ cut property taxes in communities with tax rates higher than 2.5 percent of fair market value, then limited increases to 2˝ percent a year; cut the
auto excise rate from $66.00 per thousand assessed value to $25.00 per thousand; forbade unfunded state mandates on the cities and towns; repealed two existing mandates for school board fiscal autonomy and compulsory binding arbitration for police and fire unions; created the Division of Local Services in the Department of Revenue and the Division of Local Mandates under the state Auditor.
Prop 2˝ is a law, subject to repeal by the Legislature, not a constitutional amendment like California’s Proposition 13. Nobody, including us, thought that we would be celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2005. CLT thanks the voters for their 1980 decision, and appreciates the support of Governors Ed King, Bill Weld, Paul Cellucci, Jane Swift and Mitt Romney – and enough legislators to sustain gubernatorial vetoes over the years.
In its 29th year, 2010,
Proposition 2˝ once again came under attack to weaken it. Again
CLT and its allies were able to fend off the
tax-borrow-and-spenders' assault.
Celebrating the
30th Anniversary of
Proposition 2˝
November 4, 1980 – November 4, 2010
A report on the effects of Prop 2˝ on
actual property taxpayers
after twenty-five years of success
[PDF file]
Released: October 31, 2005
Proposition 2˝ and
the Auto Excise Tax
[PDF file]
By Citizens Economic Research Foundation
and Citizens for Limited Taxation
Proposition 2˝
— 20 Years Later
[PDF file]
Prepared by Lane & Company
for Citizens Economic Research Foundation
and Citizens for Limited Taxation in 2001
The Odd Proposition
After 15 years, Proposition 2˝ Endures as the State’s Most Unlikely Reform
By Dave Denison
MassINC, Commonwealth Magazine - Summer 1996
A Tale of Eight Cities & Towns
Prop 2˝ Yields Different Results in Different Places
By David Tyler
MassINC, Commonwealth Magazine - Summer 1996
A Visit With Barbara Anderson
At home with the state's leading anti-tax activist
By Dave Denison
MassINC, Commonwealth Magazine - Summer 1996
Massachusetts makes a
comeback
[PDF file]
What is responsible for the state's amazing turnaround?
Would you believe Proposition 2˝?
By Charles Kenney
Boston Globe Magazine - May 18, 1986
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Levy Limits ...
But Were Afraid to Ask: A Primer on Proposition 2˝
[PDF
file]
By the Department of Revenue, Division of Local Services
Levy Limits: A Primer on Proposition 2˝
[PDF file]
By the Department of Revenue, Division of Local Services
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