CLT UPDATE
Monday, May 12, 2008
The tax revolt is happening -- join
in!
A group of antitax activists launched a campaign over
the weekend to abolish the state income tax, setting the stage for a
contentious public battle if the measure is added to the ballot this
fall.
After pushing a similar initiative that almost passed six years ago, a
group called the Committee for Small Government is back for another
round, asking voters to end the income tax and save the average taxpayer
$3,600 a year. The group, led by libertarian Carla Howell, is almost
certain to gather the 11,000 signatures needed to put a question on the
November ballot.
To say that state officials are worried about the prospect would be an
understatement.
Community, political, and business officials are grasping for words such
as "chaos," "devastating," and "catastrophe" to describe the scenario
that would unfold if the measure passes....
A fledgling coalition of city and town officials and union officials
hired former Blue Cross Blue Shield executive and civic leader Peter
Meade to head a battle against the income tax cut, and is interviewing
high-powered public relations firms. Their Coalition for Our Communities
plans a fund-raising and public educational campaign to combat the
allure of the tax-cutting measure, which would cost the state roughly
$12.7 billion - about 40 percent of the budget....
Some political observers are expecting a public tax battle the likes of
which has not been seen since Governor Michael S. Dukakis was in office.
"I think back to what happened in '89 or '90. I think this would be even
more contentious and chaotic than that period," said Michael Widmer,
president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, recalling the voter
effort to overturn new taxes imposed under Dukakis. "This, I think,
would usher in a similar kind of period because the scale of this is so
enormous."...
Opponents say that the measure would stem the flow of money to cities
and towns, forcing communities to raise property taxes to keep schools
open and police on the street....
Republican Governor Paul Cellucci championed a successful campaign to
gradually reduce the income tax from 5.85 percent to 5 percent. In 2002,
legislators halted the income tax rollback in its tracks at 5.3 percent,
with provisions that it could be gradually reduced to 5 percent if tax
collections outpaced inflation.
If the numbers remain on track this year, the income tax rate could go
down to 5.25 percent for returns filed in April 2009.
Barbara Anderson, executive director of Citizens for Limited
Taxation, a Marblehead-based lobbying group, said she would expect
an $18 cut in her own taxes if this rollback takes effect - a fraction
of the $500 she estimates she would have saved on taxes between 2002 and
2007 had the ballot measure been put [stayed] in place.
"I'm not getting all weepy with gratitude here," she said.
The Boston Globe
Monday, May 12, 2008
Activists push to repeal state income tax
Collecting signatures to put measure on ballot
Shrewsbury is quickly earning a reputation as one of the more
fiscally conservative towns in the state, now that voters have rejected the
fourth request to raise property taxes since 2004.
The town has never approved overriding Proposition 2½, which limits annual
increases in property taxes to 2.5 percent of a community's total tax levy
without the approval of voters.
Tuesday's vote in Shrewsbury on the latest attempt was 3,548 in favor of the
$1.5 million tax increase, and 5,215 against, according to results from the town
clerk's office....
Of the $1.5 million, $500,000 was earmarked for the schools. School cuts will
likely include nine teaching positions, some of which will have to be layoffs,
Bent said....
Cuts on the municipal side were not yet determined. Some under discussion
include library hours and paid drivers for the Meals on Wheels program, which
would use volunteers instead, Town Manager Dan Morgado said.
The Boston Globe - West edition
Sunday, May 11, 2008
One-word tradition on overrides: No
SHREWSBURY— Town employees and retirees have closed a
significant portion of the town’s $1 million budget gap by agreeing to pay more
for their health insurance.
The announcement quiets the dire predictions of layoffs and cutbacks that town
officials had been predicting for months, even though voters decisively turned
back a $1.5 million override last week, the fourth override in five years
rejected at the ballot box.
Town Manager Daniel J. Morgado announced to the Finance Committee last night
that the health care choices will result in a $660,000 savings in health care
costs in next year’s budget.
Had employees not agreed to the changes, Mr. Morgado had predicted the town’s
health insurance bill would rise to $7.6 million next year. With the changes,
next year’s health insurance budget will remain the same as this year’s, at $6.9
million.
The savings will prevent eight employees from being laid off on the town side,
and will prevent most of the planned layoffs of nine teachers and 15 teacher’s
aides....
With several other adjustments, the total savings announced last night was
$698,000. The Finance Committee and selectmen each voted to split the money
evenly between the town and school budgets.
The Telegram & Gazette
Friday, May 9, 2008
Town workers, retirees OK health cost changes
Manager says agreement will save $660,000
Chip Ford's CLT Commentary
Revolution is in the air -- voters are fed up and not
taking it any more. The writing on the wall has become so apparent
that even the Bacon Hill crowd is getting nervous. Carla Howell's
"Small Government Act" to outright abolish the state income tax is
sending shudders through the Takers. Already the
tax-spend-and-borrow crowd is manning the barricades, building an army
to hold off the taxpaying rabble marching on the ramparts.
The Fat-Cat Big-Business honchos led by Michael
Widmer, president of the so-called
Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, are marching in their private
armies and raising war funds. Along with them the usual storm
troopers -- public employee unions like the powerful Massachusetts
Teachers Association -- will enlist as the army's shock troops.
Already, its commanding general has been appointed, according to today's
Boston Globe report:
"A fledgling coalition of city and town officials and
union officials hired former Blue Cross Blue Shield executive and civic
leader Peter Meade to head a battle against the income tax cut, and is
interviewing high-powered public relations firms. Their Coalition for
Our Communities plans a fund-raising and public educational campaign to
combat the allure of the tax-cutting measure, which would cost the state
roughly $12.7 billion - about 40 percent of the budget."
It's no coincidence that Peter Meade was appointed
Commanding General of the Army of the Status Quo, the "Coalition for Our
Communities" -- with orders to "head a battle" against small
government advocates, "to combat the allure of the tax-cutting measure."
General Meade was recruited from within the ranks of MTF's
Board of Trustees -- where he was listed as recently as
this
morning but was suddenly removed.
"Senate President Therese Murray said she plans to
meet with the governor and the speaker of the House to plan a campaign
against the income tax cut," the Globe further reported.
The forces of oppression are gathering within the
citadel, but Minutemen around the colony are forming up ranks in the
fields to take the battle to the enemy. You can enlist, collect
signatures to insure that voters have abolishment of the income tax as a
choice on the November ballot.
To sign up
CLICK HERE
Look what happens when citizens stand up to the Army
of the Status Quo. As in Saugus not long ago, Shrewsbury voters
found that indeed the sky will not fall if taxes are not
raised, in fact good things can happen. As soon as they said NO
to an override for the fourth consecutive time in five years the unions lowered their
demands, raised a white flag and surrendered -- and town revenue was found to be sufficient
after all.
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|
Chip Ford |
The Boston Globe
Monday, May 12, 2008
Activists push to repeal state income tax
Collecting signatures to put measure on ballot
By Stephanie Ebbert
A group of antitax activists launched a campaign over the weekend to
abolish the state income tax, setting the stage for a contentious public
battle if the measure is added to the ballot this fall.
After pushing a similar initiative that almost passed six years ago, a
group called the Committee for Small Government is back for another
round, asking voters to end the income tax and save the average taxpayer
$3,600 a year. The group, led by libertarian Carla Howell, is almost
certain to gather the 11,000 signatures needed to put a question on the
November ballot.
To say that state officials are worried about the prospect would be an
understatement.
Community, political, and business officials are grasping for words such
as "chaos," "devastating," and "catastrophe" to describe the scenario
that would unfold if the measure passes.
Six years ago, Beacon Hill didn't pay much attention to what seemed to
be a pie-in-the-sky campaign. Confident that voters would reject the
plan as folly, no one even organized a campaign to fight it.
But it almost passed, gaining the support of 45 percent of voters.
A fledgling coalition of city and town officials and union officials
hired former Blue Cross Blue Shield executive and civic leader Peter
Meade to head a battle against the income tax cut, and is interviewing
high-powered public relations firms. Their Coalition for Our Communities
plans a fund-raising and public educational campaign to combat the
allure of the tax-cutting measure, which would cost the state roughly
$12.7 billion - about 40 percent of the budget.
Some political observers are expecting a public tax battle the likes of
which has not been seen since Governor Michael S. Dukakis was in office.
"I think back to what happened in '89 or '90. I think this would be even
more contentious and chaotic than that period," said Michael Widmer,
president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, recalling the voter
effort to overturn new taxes imposed under Dukakis. "This, I think,
would usher in a similar kind of period because the scale of this is so
enormous."
How would the state cut $12 billion?
That's three times the sum the state sends cities and towns for public
schools. Laying off every state employee would only save about $5
billion, said Cam Huff, a private policy consultant who studies the
state budget.
An initiative petition is intended to be binding if it passes, but the
Legislature has found ways to buck the will of the people in the past.
In 2002, lawmakers halted a gradual income tax rollback approved by
voters two years earlier, prompting howls that they were bucking an
edict from the populace. And though voters passed a ballot question in
1998 that called for publicly funded campaigns, the Legislature famously
refused to pay for them.
Howell, who launched both income tax petitions, said that lawmakers
should not have a choice.
"It is a binding law. It's not an opinion referendum," Howell said,
suggesting that the political pressure on lawmakers would be enormous if
it passes. "Voters will be expecting their state income tax to be cut in
half less than two months after the election. So they'll be looking for
an immediate payback for their vote and a complete elimination of the
income tax one year later."
Last fall, the Committee for Small Government collected more than the
66,593 signatures needed to put the question before the Legislature,
which had the choice of approving, rejecting, changing, or ignoring it.
The Legislature took no action.
The initiative petition process allows citizens to make laws without
legislative approval, if they can repeatedly demonstrate public support.
The committee is now required to conduct a second petition drive, with a
lower threshold - this time, just 11,099 signatures - to put the
question directly on the ballot. The number of signatures is calculated
in each case as a percentage of voters who participated in the last
gubernatorial election.
Howell, who ran for governor in 2002, argues that the state budget would
become more efficient if given less funding. The text of the petition
speaks to her philosophy: "Massachusetts Big Government programs do not
work; all too often, they do not achieve their stated objectives; all
too often they fail in their duties; Massachusetts Big Government
programs make things worse."
Rather than the sky-is-falling scenario that officials describe, Howell
maintains that schools and governments can do more with less.
"Absolutely. They can function better," she said. "If you look at the
schools in this state and what results they produce, there's an almost
inverse relationship between amount of money being spent and the
results."
Governor Deval Patrick said he could understand voters wanting to
reclaim their tax money, but he considers the petition unwise. "Just as
it is the people's money it is also the people's bridges and the
people's roads and the people's schools and the people's broken
neighbors, in some cases," the governor said.
Opponents say that the measure would stem the flow of money to cities
and towns, forcing communities to raise property taxes to keep schools
open and police on the street. The income tax is more fairly applied,
they said, since it draws proportionately more from the wealthy, while
property taxes often hurt those who are house-rich but cash-poor.
Senate President Therese Murray said she plans to meet with the governor
and the speaker of the House to plan a campaign against the income tax
cut.
"When people are being squeezed, when their energy costs are rising, gas
costs are going up, food costs are going up, they're going to say,
'That's a good idea. That would be good for me,' " Murray said. "But
when their child has no school to go to and they can't get out their
door to go to work because the street hasn't been plowed in the winter,
I think the public would be back here really quick saying, 'Please, fix
this.' "
Massachusetts voters have taken alternate views of tax cuts when they've
had the chance to vote on them.
Even amid the 1990 recession and anger at Dukakis for his management of
the state budget and tax increases, voters overwhelmingly rejected a
ballot question that would have repealed new taxes and rolled back the
income tax.
A decade later, Republican Governor Paul Cellucci championed a
successful campaign to gradually reduce the income tax from 5.85 percent
to 5 percent. In 2002, legislators halted the income tax rollback in its
tracks at 5.3 percent, with provisions that it could be gradually
reduced to 5 percent if tax collections outpaced inflation.
If the numbers remain on track this year, the income tax rate could go
down to 5.25 percent for returns filed in April 2009.
Barbara Anderson, executive director of Citizens for Limited
Taxation, a Marblehead-based lobbying group, said she would expect
an $18 cut in her own taxes if this rollback takes effect - a fraction
of the $500 she estimates she would have saved on taxes between 2002 and
2007 had the ballot measure been put [stayed] in place.
"I'm not getting all weepy with gratitude here," she said.
Ross Kerber of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
The Boston Globe - West edition
Sunday, May 11, 2008
One-word tradition on overrides: No
By Lisa Kocian
No, no, no. Seriously. No.
Shrewsbury is quickly earning a reputation as one of the more fiscally
conservative towns in the state, now that voters have rejected the
fourth request to raise property taxes since 2004.
The town has never approved overriding Proposition 2½, which limits
annual increases in property taxes to 2.5 percent of a community's total
tax levy without the approval of voters.
Tuesday's vote in Shrewsbury on the latest attempt was 3,548 in favor of
the $1.5 million tax increase, and 5,215 against, according to results
from the town clerk's office.
Last year, a $5 million override was rejected in a much closer vote,
5,568 to 5,160.
One key difference this year was an almost nonexistent campaign from
residents in support of the override. Last year, Yes4Shrewsbury had
hundreds of volunteers calling voters and handing out fliers in favor of
the override. Not so this spring.
Many of last year's supporters seemed to be frustrated that their hard
work didn't pay off, said the school district's superintendent, Anthony
Bent.
"In part, they realized that the effort that they made last time, which
was very public, though it was close, was unsuccessful," he said. Bent
also said he was surprised that even though last year's request was for
a bigger amount, the vote was so much closer than last week's tally.
"Shrewsbury is clearly a conservative and frugal town," said Bent.
"Certainly, the economy didn't help. People every day waking up to the
news that gas is still more money than it was yesterday - that works
counter to an individual saying, 'Yes I'll pay more taxes.' "
Of the $1.5 million, $500,000 was earmarked for the schools. School cuts
will likely include nine teaching positions, some of which will have to
be layoffs, Bent said.
"The most frustrating part is the general decline in the service to
children," said Bent. "The result of one negative override isn't of such
consequence that we fail to recover. It's the continual failure of
overrides that over time has pulled out the percentage of instructional
aides that we used to have, that has pulled out the technology teachers
that we used to have at the elementary level."
Also, librarians and reading teachers have been cut in recent years
along with some programs, he said. There used to be several English
electives at the high school, but now it's mostly the traditional
courses that are left. Bent said he fears reverting to a "basic vanilla
program" if cuts continue.
Cuts on the municipal side were not yet determined. Some under
discussion include library hours and paid drivers for the Meals on
Wheels program, which would use volunteers instead, Town Manager Dan
Morgado said.
Town Meeting member Mark Adler supported the override on his blog,
ShrewsBuried.com. After the vote, he said the Board of Selectmen should
have done a much better job of communicating why the override was
needed.
"The selectmen came into it grudgingly," he said. "This was the
selectmen's override and it failed big time."
Selectman Maurice M. DePalo, the top vote-getter in winning reelection
on Tuesday, said it's naive to think elected officials can obtain
approval for a tax increase without help from residents.
"The way an override passes is by grass-roots. The way anything passes,
it's neighbor to neighbor," he said.
The lack of signs and support didn't help, he said, but it's impossible
to know if a louder campaign would have made the difference. Last year,
voter turnout was 52 percent, as opposed to 42 percent on Tuesday.
"I think a lot of people were voting on how they felt about their own
economic situation - that's not an unreasonable position," said DePalo.
Benjamin W. Tartaglia Sr., who opposed the override, finished second in
the seven-person race for two seats, and will be a new face on the Board
of Selectmen.
He said the rejection of the override was not as much about people's
wallets as about a desire for careful money management.
"I don't think it's a question of affordability," he said. "I think
people are tired of them every single year coming back with an override
attempt."
The Telegram & Gazette
Friday, May 9, 2008
Town workers, retirees OK health cost changes
Manager says agreement will save $660,000
By Aaron Nicodemus
SHREWSBURY— Town employees and retirees have closed a significant
portion of the town’s $1 million budget gap by agreeing to pay more for
their health insurance.
The announcement quiets the dire predictions of layoffs and cutbacks
that town officials had been predicting for months, even though voters
decisively turned back a $1.5 million override last week, the fourth
override in five years rejected at the ballot box.
Town Manager Daniel J. Morgado announced to the Finance Committee last
night that the health care choices will result in a $660,000 savings in
health care costs in next year’s budget.
Had employees not agreed to the changes, Mr. Morgado had predicted the
town’s health insurance bill would rise to $7.6 million next year. With
the changes, next year’s health insurance budget will remain the same as
this year’s, at $6.9 million.
The savings will prevent eight employees from being laid off on the town
side, and will prevent most of the planned layoffs of nine teachers and
15 teacher’s aides. A police secretary retiring this month will not be
replaced. The school committee will debate what to do with its share of
the money at its meeting Wednesday.
As an added bonus, the town will save $130,000 in unemployment
compensation because it will not have to lay off employees.
With several other adjustments, the total savings announced last night
was $698,000. The Finance Committee and selectmen each voted to split
the money evenly between the town and school budgets.
In addition to the reduction in layoffs, the savings will allow the
library to keep its current 61 hours of operation per week and not face
decertification by the state.
“Employees were outstanding, they understand the issues that were
involved here,” Mr. Morgado said. “We were able to put back some money
into the budget to save jobs.”
Even with the savings, there is still a $250,000 shortfall to be
addressed. School fees for busing, athletics and extracurricular
activities, which would have been dramatically lowered had the override
passed, will remain in place.
When asked what he would say to people who will ask why the town went
through the entire override process only to have the budget gap narrow
the following week, Mr. Morgado answered, “I don’t think it’s good to
announce something until it’s done.”
Overrides have become a regular rite of passage in Shrewsbury. But one
Finance Committee member said something has to change.
“I think it’s pretty clear; the community has spoken out on overrides,”
said Finance Committee member David A. Lecuyer. “We’re not convincing a
lot in the community that this override is necessary.”
Several Finance Committee members warned that next year’s budget could
be the toughest yet. There will be no $390,000 coal ash fund to draw on,
and the town’s rainy day free cash fund will be depleted by $3.5 million
to fill in next year’s budget.
The announcement on health care savings had hung like an unanswered
question over the budget process. All of the town’s employees had agreed
in principle to pay more for their health care last month, but the
savings for the town was not known until employees chose plans.
Mr. Morgado said he made it clear that throughout the entire budget
process that the employee health care issue had not yet been resolved,
and that it might result in some savings.
Employees and retirees had several health care plans to choose from, all
offered under the West Suburban Health Group consortium. Employees and
retirees could either choose to pay more per week for health insurance,
increasing their contribution from 10 percent to 15 percent; or they
could take a slightly cheaper plan with higher co-payments for doctor’s
visits, prescription drugs, and emergency room visits.
“We were able to handle this with the employee groups in a way that was
collaborative, and not create discussion on something that was still
under development,” Mr. Morgado said.
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