CLT
UPDATE
Saturday, October 21, 2006
With Deval, Clintonista word-parsing
is resurrected
With property taxes returning
yesterday as an issue in the race for governor, the state's leading
fiscal watchdog said that none of the candidates has offered a proposal
that would reduce taxes for all property owners.
Michael J. Widmer, president of the nonpartisan Massachusetts Taxpayers
Foundation, took issue with contention by the candidates that they can
reduce property taxes broadly, including plans by independent Christy
Mihos, Republican Kerry Healey, and Democrat Deval L. Patrick.
"It's unrealistic to say property taxes can be reduced in a broad-based
way," Widmer said in an interview with the Globe. "Maybe they can slow
the rate of growth or target certain categories of taxpayers for relief,
but not across the board."
Widmer offered his analysis as Healey continued to press Patrick on his
vow to cut property taxes, saying he has not been specific in telling
voters how he would do it....
Mihos has proposed Proposition One, which would dramatically increase
local aid overnight and freeze tax assessments until property is sold.
Widmer called Mihos's plan "totally unrealistic."
Both he and Geoffrey Beckwith, executive director of the Massachusetts
Municipal Association, said the Mihos proposal would require an
amendment to the state constitution, a process that takes a minimum of
four years, because the same class of property would be assessed
different ways....
Yesterday, Healey charged that Patrick has failed to offer the specifics
of how he would cut property taxes. She also released a letter to
Patrick from antitax crusader Barbara Anderson, executive
director of Citizens for Limited Taxation, striking similar
themes and asking if he intends to tinker with Proposition 2½, which the
group launched.
Patrick denied that yesterday. "Proposition 2½ is staying just as it is
for as long as I am in charge," he said. "If somebody smarter than I
comes up with a better way to moderate property tax, then I am open to
that. But I have no interest and have made no proposal to do away with
Proposition 2½." ...
Widmer said Healey's pension reform proposal "is an idea that deserves
serious consideration, but there are no guarantees that you would have
those savings going forward."
The Boston Globe
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Candidates' tax plans called 'unrealistic'
Fiscal watchdog assesses proposals
Deval Patrick suffers from a "lack of
any policy on how to reduce local taxes, property taxes," Republican Lt.
Gov. Kerry Healey said Friday, trying to draw attention to the fact that
the Democrat's campaign hasn't offered concrete details about his
promise to lower property taxes.
Having hammered Democrats for months over opposition to lowering the
income tax rate, Healey attacked a pillar of Patrick's fiscal policy,
saying she would aid cities and towns financially through centralizing
local plans under the state pension system and Group Insurance
Commission....
Healey and running mate Reed Hillman were joined by Barbara Anderson,
president of Citizens for Limited Taxation, who questioned
whether Patrick understands the property tax and local aid system....
Anderson, a leading anti-tax activist for decades, said she thought
Patrick didn't comprehend the complexities of the connection between
state aid to cities and towns and taxes imposed on local property. The
local aid funding formula, complicated by Prop. 2½ overrides, render
changing the structure difficult, she said.
"I don't think he understands all this," she said in an interview, "but
I don't think he cares. He needed an answer to the question" of why he
refused to comply with voters' [income tax rollback] mandate....
"He can't do anything about the local aid formula," Anderson said.
"Who's going to give him the ability to unilaterally affect [their]
town?"
State House News Service
Friday, October 20, 2006
Healey chases Patrick on property taxes,
one-on-one debate
Healey said the key to keeping
property taxes down is to fight any effort to weaken Proposition 2½.
"That's the only thing that has kept property taxes as low as they are
today," she said. "The governor and I have been staunch defenders of
Proposition 2½, no matter what kind of proposals have come from Beacon
Hill to try to weaken that."
Patrick said he had no intention of trying to weaken or tamper with
Proposition 2½.
Associated Press
Friday, October 20, 2006
Healey renews call to solely debate Patrick
Chip Ford's CLT Commentary
"Proposition 2½ is staying just as it is for as
long as I am in charge."
Patrick said he had no intention of trying to
weaken or tamper with Proposition 2½.
"If somebody smarter than I comes up with a
better way to moderate property tax, then I am open to that."
Deval Patrick
Democrat candidate for governor
October 20, 2006
From news reports
Greetings activists and supporters:
Last evening, while Barbara and I reviewed Deval
Patrick's response(s) to CLT's challenge of his "property tax relief
plan," I reminded her of his close alliance and friendship with former
president Bill Clinton, and America's need to carefully "parse"
everything Clinton said (e.g., "It all depends on what the
definition of 'is' is."): one is foolish to not carefully read
between the lines with a magnifying glass when listening to a
Clintonista speak. To do otherwise is done at your own peril,
shame on you. (Always look for what I call "the weasley-words.")
When I heard that Patrick had "no intention" to
attack Proposition 2½, the bells-and-buzzers went off. "No
intention"? For how long -- just right now, for the next two
weeks before the election? How long before an "intention" can be
reversed?
As with most if not all of Patrick's positions, his
so-called property tax relief plan needs clarification, at least some
specifics, and obtaining them is like pulling teeth: "If somebody
smarter than I comes up with a better way to moderate property tax, then
I am open to that."
I'll bet the state teachers union can, and most
surely will. After all, the Massachusetts Teachers Association
only this week announced that it will spend "'well over $1 million'
between now and the Nov. 7 election on 'issue ads' in support of the
Patrick-Murray ticket" ("Patrick
gets help in ad battle with Healey"), according to Boston Globe
reporter Brian C. Mooney, who also wrote today's Globe report
(accompanied by a great color photo of Barbara with Kerry Healey at the
news conference). That's not an expenditure: it's clearly an
investment. The MTA spent that much in its failed effort to
defeat the voters' tax rollback ballot question.
The MTA campaigned against Prop 2½ as one of its most
strenuous, well-funded opponents back in 1980, and against the tax
rollback from 1997-2000. It has ceaselessly attempted to gut both
ever since, despite the voters' mandates to the contrary. "Well
over $1 million" is chump change for its deep pockets if it can finally
have its way over taxpayers and voters through back-room deals on Beacon
Hill.
Earlier yesterday, Barbara participated in a news
conference at the Healey/Hillman headquarters in Boston. From the
podium, she went over Proposition 2½ and how it works in great detail, why
it remains the homeowner's best defense against a return to unlimited
property taxation. Then she explained how Deval Patrick's "property
tax relief plan" was simply smoke-and-mirrors. She pointed out that
his "plan" is just a lame and hollow response to the difficult question
often posed to him: why he feels he doesn't need to respect the
voters' 2000 decision to roll back the "temporary" income tax rate.
She charged that he has consistently failed to provide any substance to
his "plan," that it is merely a cynical dodge to avoid an honest answer,
that he's making it up on the fly when he's forced to explain how it would
work. And she expressed her concern for the survival of Proposition
2½ if he should be elected governor.
For photos and more information see:
Property Tax News Conference
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|
Chip Ford |
The Boston Globe
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Candidates' tax plans called 'unrealistic'
Fiscal watchdog assesses proposals
By Brian C. Mooney, Globe Staff
With property taxes returning yesterday as an issue in the race for
governor, the state's leading fiscal watchdog said that none of the
candidates has offered a proposal that would reduce taxes for all
property owners.
Michael J. Widmer, president of the nonpartisan Massachusetts Taxpayers
Foundation, took issue with contention by the candidates that they can
reduce property taxes broadly, including plans by independent Christy
Mihos, Republican Kerry Healey, and Democrat Deval L. Patrick.
"It's unrealistic to say property taxes can be reduced in a broad-based
way," Widmer said in an interview with the Globe. "Maybe they can slow
the rate of growth or target certain categories of taxpayers for relief,
but not across the board."
Widmer offered his analysis as Healey continued to press Patrick on his
vow to cut property taxes, saying he has not been specific in telling
voters how he would do it.
Among several initiatives, Patrick has proposed that a portion of local
aid be dedicated to "direct property tax relief." Widmer said he doubted
that is feasible, given local control over how local aid is spent and
other aspects of the budget process.
Healey, meanwhile, supports an immediate rollback of the state income
tax rate, but Widmer said that will reduce local aid by removing almost
$700 million in revenue from a state budget that is already projected to
be out of balance.
Mihos has proposed Proposition One, which would dramatically increase
local aid overnight and freeze tax assessments until property is sold.
Widmer called Mihos's plan "totally unrealistic."
Both he and Geoffrey Beckwith, executive director of the Massachusetts
Municipal Association, said the Mihos proposal would require an
amendment to the state constitution, a process that takes a minimum of
four years, because the same class of property would be assessed
different ways.
The reality faced by cities and towns across the Commonwealth is that
local property taxes have increased every year since Proposition 2½, the
property tax limiting initiative, was fully implemented in 1983. Since
1990, local property taxes have risen on average more than 5 percent per
year for single-family homeowners in the state to $3,801 in 2006,
according to data compiled by the state Department of Revenue.
More significantly, Beckwith said, local governments have become
increasingly reliant on the money raised by property taxes over the last
four years. Property taxes now account for 53 percent of all local
spending, the highest burden since Proposition 2½ went into effect, he
said.
That is up from 49 percent four years ago and a low of 46 percent in
1986-87, said Beckwith, whose organization represents the state's 351
cities and towns. Since 2002, the state's contribution to local spending
statewide has dropped from 28 percent to 24 percent, he said.
Steep cuts in local aid during 2003-2004 have never been fully restored,
Beckwith said, and nearly a third of the state's communities are
receiving less from the state than they did in 2002.
Both the municipal association and the taxpayers foundation, which is
funded by businesses, advocate a stable, predictable revenue-sharing
program that guarantees that 40 percent of state revenue be distributed
to cities and towns each year. Currently, about 36 percent of state
revenue goes to the cities and towns, and the figure is even less if
school building assistance is not included, according to Beckwith.
Widmer's group supports a 10-year phase-in to 40 percent; Beckwith's, a
timetable of several years.
Healey is the only one of the major candidates who has not expressed
support for at least the concept of steering a guaranteed figure to the
municipalities, Widmer said. Mihos advocates an immediate shift to 40
percent, which Widmer said the state can't afford. Patrick favors a
fixed percentage, as well, but has not committed to a specific figure.
He has said 40 percent is a good goal.
Green-Rainbow Party candidate Grace Ross has called generally for an
increase in taxes on wealthier taxpayers to alleviate the
disproportionate burden shouldered by lower-income residents.
Patrick has said he would "cut the property tax" and also has complained
that Healey's call to cut the state income tax rate would lead to
increases in property taxes.
Yesterday, Healey charged that Patrick has failed to offer the specifics
of how he would cut property taxes. She also released a letter to
Patrick from antitax crusader Barbara Anderson, executive
director of Citizens for Limited Taxation, striking similar
themes and asking if he intends to tinker with Proposition 2½, which the
group launched.
Patrick denied that yesterday. "Proposition 2½ is staying just as it is
for as long as I am in charge," he said. "If somebody smarter than I
comes up with a better way to moderate property tax, then I am open to
that. But I have no interest and have made no proposal to do away with
Proposition 2½."
Patrick doesn't suggest that, but he often characterizes his local
property tax plan in terms that suggest a broader-based approach. His
specific proposals are much narrower.
Doug Rubin, a senior adviser to Patrick, acknowledged that the
Democrat's proposals will not result in across-the-board relief for all
property owners.
"You can quibble about whether the plan is enough or sufficient, but
there is a clear, detailed plan put forth by Deval Patrick," Rubin said.
Among the specifics, Patrick has proposed expanding the so-called
"circuit breaker," which now provides income tax credits of up to $870
to elderly residents in certain income ranges whose property taxes or
rent exceed 10 percent of their total annual income.
That program now costs the state about $40 million a year and benefits
about 44,000 taxpayers. Patrick would expand it to about $100 million,
making another 88,750 individuals eligible and extend it to lower-income
residents regardless of age, Rubin said.
Patrick has also proposed giving communities $35 per student as an
incentive to discontinue or not adopt fees for services such as school
transportation or extracurricular activities. If every community took
advantage, it would cost about $34 million. Mihos has said he would end
local fees for school-related activities and services.
This year, the Legislature uncapped State Lottery profits, releasing an
additional $159 million to cities and towns that in the past the state
has kept in the state budget. Patrick proposes permanently uncapping the
distributions to cities and towns. But Beckwith of the municipal
association said those revenues "are flatlining" and not considered a
probable source of additional aid in the near future.
Patrick has also proposed a local-option meals tax, similar to the local
hotel-motel room tax that went into effect in the mid-1980s. About 160
communities charge 4 percent on top of the 5.7 percent state room tax.
In 2005, that generated $75.5 million for those communities, with about
a third of that figure collected by Boston, state figures show.
Last year, the 5 percent meals tax generated a total of $588 million for
the state. That means that if every community adopted a local meals tax,
it would bring in about $117 million for each additional 1 percent.
Healey has offered no specific plans for property tax relief, but has
proposed initiatives that could save municipalities hundreds of millions
of dollars, potentially lessening pressure to increase property taxes.
If underperforming local pension boards joined the state's giant $43
billion pension fund, improved returns would also generate "more than
$200 million in savings to cities and towns to cut property taxes."
Allowing municipalites to join the state's Group Insurance Commission
would result in "likely millions of dollars in annual cost savings" by
increasing the state's buying power for employee health insurance
coverage, her website states.
Widmer said Healey's pension reform proposal "is an idea that deserves
serious consideration, but there are no guarantees that you would have
those savings going forward."
Beckwith said Healey's proposals, if implemented, still wouldn't address
the problem of fluctuating local aid levels. Moreover, if local
governments did realize $200 million in savings from the pension plan,
local aid totals, adjusted for inflation, would still be $500 million
below what they were in 2002, he said.
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State House News Service
Friday, October 20, 2006
Healey chases Patrick on property taxes,
one-on-one debate
By Jim O'Sullivan and Gintautas Dumcius
Deval Patrick suffers from a "lack of any policy on how to reduce local
taxes, property taxes," Republican Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey said Friday,
trying to draw attention to the fact that the Democrat's campaign hasn't
offered concrete details about his promise to lower property taxes.
Having hammered Democrats for months over opposition to lowering the
income tax rate, Healey attacked a pillar of Patrick's fiscal policy,
saying she would aid cities and towns financially through centralizing
local plans under the state pension system and Group Insurance
Commission.
Healey and running mate Reed Hillman were joined by Barbara Anderson,
president of Citizens for Limited Taxation, who questioned
whether Patrick understands the property tax and local aid system.
Healey also released a letter she sent to Patrick requesting a
one-on-one debate, a proposal Patrick rejected when Healey issued it
during Thursday night's debate.
Healey said it was clear that either she or Patrick would win the
governorship, jabbing at independent Christy Mihos, who has failed to
break double digits in recent public polls, and Green-Rainbow candidate
Grace Ross, who consistently registers at 1 percent.
Patrick countered that Healey had previously supported the participation
of all candidates in the debates, and aides distributed an April press
release from Healey pushing for four post-primary debates with the
entire ballot-qualified field.
He said, "There are four candidates in the race. There ought to be four
participants in the debates."
After Healey used her closing statements in Thursday's debate to say she
favored a head-to-head match-up, Patrick told reporters, "If it'd be
just about who's ahead in the polls, I'd be the only one standing here."
At the press conference in Healey's campaign headquarters, Anderson said
she viewed the Nov. 7 election as a referendum on Proposition 2½, with a
vote for Patrick constituting a vote against the state-imposed limit on
yearly local tax increases.
Patrick has employed an unspecified plan to reduce property taxes as a
response to Healey's well-worn criticism of his refusal to commit to
cutting the income tax rate from 5.3 percent to 5 percent, as voters
instructed the state in 2000. During Thursday's debate, Patrick said he
would place conditions on municipalities: those who raised property
taxes would receive less local aid.
Asked at a later press event to outline his property tax reduction plan
Friday, Patrick again talked about expanding the circuit breaker for
senior citizens to include middle to low income homeowners.
Regarding assertions that he would undermine Proposition 2½, Patrick
said, "Prop 2 and a half is staying as it is as long as I'm in charge."
If someone comes up with a better way to "moderate" property taxes, he'd
be open to that, Patrick said during a press conference at the
University of Massachusetts Club in Boston. The event was originally
scheduled to be a twin billing with US Sen. Barack Obama, Democrat of
Illinois, but Obama's flight was delayed, Democrats said.
Anderson, a leading anti-tax activist for decades, said she thought
Patrick didn't comprehend the complexities of the connection between
state aid to cities and towns and taxes imposed on local property. The
local aid funding formula, complicated by Prop. 2½ overrides, render
changing the structure difficult, she said.
"I don't think he understands all this," she said in an interview, "but
I don't think he cares. He needed an answer to the question" of why he
refused to comply with voters' mandate.
Linking property taxes to local aid would prove difficult with
legislators reluctant to return to their districts explaining to
municipal officials why aid, long tied to a politician's perceived clout
on Beacon Hill, had dwindled.
"He can't do anything about the local aid formula," Anderson said.
"Who's going to give him the ability to unilaterally affect [their]
town?"
The push for a head-to-head debate between the two leading candidates
has gained currency in the media recently, and Healey said during
Thursday night's debate that such a confrontation would be "wonderful."
In the letter, Healey wrote, "with four candidates on stage and limited
time, a wide-ranging policy discussion had been largely crowded out."
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Associated Press
Friday, October 20, 2006
Healey renews call to solely debate Patrick
By Steve LeBlanc
Kerry Healey, trailing in the polls and running out of time before
election day, sought to shake up the race for governor yesterday,
renewing her push for a one-on-one prime time debate with Democratic
rival Deval Patrick.
Just hours after the third of five debates featuring all four
candidates, the Republican lieutenant governor and candidate for
governor, fired off a letter to Patrick calling for a debate between the
two major party candidates.
"You have never struck me as someone who has backed down from a
challenge, so I'd be surprised if you chose to stand on the sidelines
now," Healey wrote. "With four candidates on stage and limited time, a
wide-ranging policy discussion has been largely crowded out."
Healey, who has been trailing Patrick in most polls, made a similar
challenge during Thursday night's debate.
During the debates, Healey has sought to engage directly with Patrick,
but has often found herself at the receiving end of pointed criticism
not only from Patrick, but from independent candidate Christy Mihos and
Grace Ross of the Green-Rainbow Party.
Patrick quickly rejected the idea of a one-on-one debate with Healey,
saying voters have the right to hear from all the candidates.
"There are four candidates in the race, four choices for the voters,
four voices ought to be heard at the debates," he said. "That's the same
position she had back in the spring. It's the position I have had
consistently through the whole campaign."
Healey's requests appeared to be a change from her position earlier in
the campaign. In April, Healey proposed four general election debates
and challenged all the candidates, including Mihos and Ross and the two
other Democratic primary contenders to participate. Patrick agreed.
"I urge Tom Reilly, Chris Gabrieli, Christy Mihos and Grace Ross to make
the same commitment as Deval Patrick and accept my debate challenge,"
Healey said at the time.
Healey's campaign manager, Tim O'Brien, said Healey wasn't changing her
position. He said she challenged all the candidates to four debates and
there are five debates scheduled with all of the candidates invited.
"What we called for today is an additional debate with Deval Patrick,"
he said.
Mihos and Ross objected to the idea of being excluded from any debate.
"To her we are a distraction because we are pointing out the pathetic
failed record of the Romney-Healey administration," Mihos said. "With
the amount of money she's spending on this campaign she should buy an
hour on television and invite Deval for a debate and if he shows, he
shows."
Ross said Healey has no one to blame for her sagging poll numbers than
herself and excluding candidates isn't the answer. If she and Mihos can
make their case to voters in the four-way format, Healey should too,
Ross said.
"She's created such a high negativity rating that she can't win and now
she wants to mess with the Democratic process," Ross said. "She's boxed
herself in. She's losing this one herself."
On Friday, Healey again said she was the only candidate in the race who
would protect taxpayers, pointing out that she and running mate Reed
Hillman had signed a no-new-taxes pledge. None of the other candidates
have taken the same pledge.
She also tried to undercut one of Patrick's key arguments -- the need to
rein in property taxes. Healey said the best weapon against higher
property taxes is Proposition 2½, which limits how much local cities and
towns can raise property taxes each year.
Patrick has repeatedly said that Healey's push to lower the state income
tax rate from 5.3 percent to 5 percent is a "shell game" because lower
income taxes put pressure on communities to raise property taxes.
Healey said the key to keeping property taxes down is to fight any
effort to weaken Proposition 2½.
"That's the only thing that has kept property taxes as low as they are
today," she said. "The governor and I have been staunch defenders of
Proposition 2½, no matter what kind of proposals have come from Beacon
Hill to try to weaken that."
Patrick said he had no intention of trying to weaken or tamper with
Proposition 2½.
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