Starting Sunday, March 18, the Globe has a new blog,
Override Central, to keep you up to date on the talk about taxes in town
halls, schools, dinner tables and on local blogs throughout the Boston
area. It can be found at boston.com/overridecentral
Will your property tax bill be fatter this year? Will your child’s
teachers be getting a raise? Will your library stay open on the
weekends? The answers depend on how far your town leaders can stretch a
dime and a nickel and whose arguments win out if the numbers don’t add
up. . . .
The Boston Globe
Saturday, March 17, 2007
It's override time in Massachusetts
Barbara Anderson helped pass Proposition 2½ 27 years ago, and
she remains the leading anti-tax activist in the state through her group,
Citizens for Limited Taxation.
She wrote an op-ed for the Globe at the 25 year mark. This week, we asked her to
give us a quick history the season's tax increase campaigns begin.
Here's Barbara: . . .
The Boston Globe
Monday, March 18, 2007
Barbara Anderson: a brief history lesson
boston.com/overridecentral
Chip Ford's CLT Commentary
The Boston Globe has launched a very useful blog,
"Override Central." If it keeps itself up-to-date it'll provide a
much needed service: Timely information on ongoing local overrides
around the state at any given moment.
The Department of Revenue's
Division of Local Services provides a wealth of information on local
finances, override history, and other municipal matters. DLS,
created by Proposition 2½ in 1980, does a great
job, but has always had difficulty with current and upcoming proposed
overrides, debt exclusions, and other voter-approval property tax
increases. The Boston Globe, with its regional bureaus around the
state, has a good opportunity to fill the gap between history and more
immediate upcoming override votes; we wish them the best of luck.
For quite some time, I've had a
set of Google search criteria which automatically feed me online news
report headlines daily for stories which mention Prop 2½
from around the state. I send them out early every morning to CLT
members who are local taxpayer-activists and leaders of local taxpayer
organizations on their request. Lately, I've begun adding media
folks to my distribution list who've asked to also be included.
The Globe's "Override
Central" blog expects to soon be open to comments from readers. If
you're interested or concerned with Proposition 2½
overrides in your city or town, check in with "Override
Central" I'm sure the tax-and-spend pro-override forces will
be well represented there.
 |
|
Chip Ford |
The Boston Globe
Saturday, March 17, 2007
It's override time in Massachusetts
http://www.boston.com/overridecentral
Forget about all that wet snow that dropped on us Friday. Spring is
around the corner, and that means voters throughout the Commonwealth
will be deciding whether to raise their property taxes.
Starting Sunday, March 18, the Globe has a new blog, Override Central,
to keep you up to date on the talk about taxes in town halls, schools,
dinner tables and on local blogs throughout the Boston area. It can be
found at boston.com/overridecentral
Will your property tax bill be fatter this year? Will your child’s
teachers be getting a raise? Will your library stay open on the
weekends? The answers depend on how far your town leaders can stretch a
dime and a nickel and whose arguments win out if the numbers don’t add
up.
We will answer those questions, in our new blog and in the pages of our
newspaper. And we also hope to hear from you. Email us at override@globe.com
According to the folks at the Massachusetts Municipal Association, 17
towns have scheduled override votes under the tax limitation law known
as Proposition 2½. Another 21 are considering ballot measures. Here's a
partial list.
Voters in Canton rejected an override early this year. Voters in
Winchester last week passed an override.
Prop 2½ was enacted in 1980, and is a beloved tool of anti-tax advocates
to keep property taxes low. Last year, more towns’ voters rejected
override proposals than accepted them. It was the first year that had
happened in a decade.
-- John C. Drake
The Boston Globe
Monday, March 18, 2007
Monday, March 19, 2007
Barbara Anderson: a brief history lesson
Barbara Anderson helped pass Proposition 2½ 27 years ago, and she
remains the leading anti-tax activist in the state through her group,
Citizens for Limited Taxation.
She wrote an op-ed for the Globe at the 25 year mark. This week, we
asked her to give us a quick history the season's tax increase campaigns
begin.
Here's Barbara:
"In 1980, Massachusetts voters were outraged about property taxes and
legislative inaction in addressing them. So using the state
constitution’s initiative petition process, Citizens for Limited
Taxation placed a question on the ballot that voters passed 59-41.
"The constitution requires all property to be assessed at full and fair
market value. Proposition 2 ½ cut property taxes to 2.5% of that market
value, and limited the increase in the property tax levy to 2.5% a year
in each community. It also cut the auto excise from $66 to $25 per
thousand and created a rental deduction which has since been capped.
"To help communities live with the limit, Prop 2½ forbade future
unfunded state mandates. The legislature later excluded the education
reform bill from that provision, requiring a certain amount to be spent
on education. Spending per pupil in Massachusetts is 7th highest in the
nation, despite charges that voters don’t care about "the children".
"If a community wants more than Prop 2½ allows, it can place a question
on the ballot for voters to override the limit. This must be done at a
local election, not town meeting. It was intended as a safety net in
case of emergency, but voters have passed overrides for operating
expenses, driving up fixed costs.
"While unable to mandate new local aid, Prop 2½ led to legislative
support for more revenue sharing. Unfortunately, that money is also
sometimes used to increase fixed costs with their pensions and health
care liabilities.
"Prop 2½ is a statute that can be repealed or drastically amended by the
Legislature. For 16 years taxpayers were protected by Republican
governors’ promised vetoes. With property taxes still too high, we must
preserve it or the special interest groups will try to make up for 27
years of lost unlimited spending time."
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