CLT UPDATE
Thursday, April 29, 2010
More news and commentary on CLT's latest taxpayer win
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One can only imagine what
property taxes would be like today had not
voters chosen to cap them 30 years ago via a
measure known as Proposition 2½....
The latest threat to the tax limitation measure
came in the form of a proposal by the House Ways
& Means Committee to exempt municipal "overlay"
accounts — the money set aside to pay for
property tax abatements — from Prop. 2½ limits.
As Citizens for Limited Taxation was
quick to point out, any surplus money in these
accounts can be used for any municipal purpose
and thus might provide officials with a means of
circumventing the levy limit without having to
resort to an override vote....
Monday's action represents a minor victory for
taxpayers who are already feeling overburdened
by the cost of generous wages and fringe
benefits granted municipal employees over the
years.
A Salem News editorial
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Message delivered: Don't mess with Prop. 2½
The House leadership bowed to
pressure Monday and removed a potential property
tax increase from a bill designed to help cities
and towns with their finances.
Local legislators said complaints from them, the
public and anti-tax groups persuaded the
leadership to back down.
"Enough pressure was brought to bear," said
state Rep. Jay Barrows, R-Mansfield.
The House amended a so-called Municipal Relief
Act to remove the offending provision. The
overriding bill passed 156-0....
Citizens for Limited Taxation estimated the
provision would have raised property taxes by
$500 million, while House Ways and Means
Chairman Charles Murphy said the real cost was
more like $164 million.
Regardless of the amount, local legislators said
they did not want Proposition 2½, the property
tax-limiting law, tampered with....
While Citizens for Limited Taxation, the
original sponsor of Proposition 2½, was leading
the fight against the tax provision in the bill,
it was also praising Attleboro and Plainville
Assessor Stanley Nacewicz for his role in
shining a light on the language tucked into the
bill.
The group said on its website that Nacewicz
originally brought what it called the "stealth
tax assault" in the bill to its attention.
The Attleboro Sun Chronicle
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
House spikes tax increase
While an effort to sabotage
Proposition 2½ fell short, the "municipal
relief" measure approved by the House of
Representatives on Monday falls far short of
providing significant aid to the commonwealth's
beleaguered taxpayers....
A section of the bill would have allowed
communities to exempt municipal "overlay"
accounts — the money set aside to pay for
property tax abatements — from Prop 2½ limits.
As tax watchdog Citizens for Limited Taxation
was quick to point out, this would have provided
officials with a means of circumventing the levy
limit without having to resort to an override
vote.
Fortunately, the ruse was detected and the
offending passage was stripped from the bill.
An Eagle-Tribune editorial
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
'Relief' plan offers little help to taxpayers
After a flood of opposition
from local officials and anti-tax groups, House
lawmakers nixed language in a bill that would
have allowed communities to increase property
taxes without voter approval.
One local official, Pembroke Selectman Arthur
Boyle, said “people would have been ballistic”
if it passed.
The Patriot Ledger
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Property taxes go untouched by
state lawmakers after backlash
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Chip Ford's CLT
Commentary
There have been a few
additional news reports and commentaries since our big victory earlier
this week for property taxpayers across the state.
Again, thanks to you
the CLT membership for taking immediate action when we alerted you.
"Never have so many
owed so much to so few."
An old proverb says,
“Success has many fathers, while failure is an orphan.”
We've noticed something
interesting that we thought you'd get a kick out of, as we did.
When a legislator files a bill, he usually leaves it on his desk for
other legislators from both parties to sign on as co-sponsors if
they want. But amendments to an existing bill are usually just
quickly filed as the bill is about to be debated.
We knew that Rep. Brad Jones, as House minority leader, had quickly
filed a Republican amendment to the Municipal Relief bill to remove
Section 8, which changed Prop 2½. The amendment was passed on a
voice vote, and Prop 2½ was saved. Then we noticed that, in local
news stories, that amendment had a Democrat sponsor from that
newspaper's community. It became a bipartisan effort!
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Chip Ford |
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The Salem News
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
A Salem News editorial
Message delivered: Don't mess with Prop. 2½
One can only imagine what property taxes would be like today had not
voters chosen to cap them 30 years ago via a measure known as
Proposition 2½.
It's not like they don't go up every year in most cases. Indeed, as
House Minority Leader Brad Jones, R-North Reading, noted Monday, "Since
the Patrick-Murray administration assumed office in 2007, the average
property tax bill has increased by 18 percent, from $3,962 in FY07 to
the current $4,671."
But there's a limit to how much they can be increased, and any
extraordinary hike for the construction of a new school, for instance,
or any other purpose, must be approved by voters via an override.
Even after three decades, the tax limitation measure remains a sacred
cow on Beacon Hill. As much as they might like to fiddle with it,
Democrats realize that if there's anything that might cost their party
its stranglehold on legislative power, it's fooling around with the
provisions of Proposition 2½.
The latest threat to the tax limitation measure came in the form of a
proposal by the House Ways & Means Committee to exempt municipal
"overlay" accounts — the money set aside to pay for property tax
abatements — from Prop. 2½ limits. As Citizens for Limited Taxation
was quick to point out, any surplus money in these accounts can be used
for any municipal purpose and thus might provide officials with a means
of circumventing the levy limit without having to resort to an override
vote.
Fortunately, the ruse was detected. And Monday, Jones, whose district
includes the town of Middleton, along with Rep. Joyce Spiliotis,
D-Peabody, led a successful effort to strip the Municipal Relief Act of
the provision giving city and town officials a means of circumventing
Prop. 2½. Asked whether there was any chance the offending provision
might be revised when the bill comes before her members, Senate
President Therese Murray told the Statehouse News Service: "None
whatsoever."
Monday's action represents a minor victory for taxpayers who are already
feeling overburdened by the cost of generous wages and fringe benefits
granted municipal employees over the years.
The Attleboro Sun Chronicle
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
House spikes tax increase
By Jim Hand
The House leadership bowed to pressure Monday and removed a potential
property tax increase from a bill designed to help cities and towns with
their finances.
Local legislators said complaints from them, the public and anti-tax
groups persuaded the leadership to back down.
"Enough pressure was brought to bear," said state Rep. Jay Barrows,
R-Mansfield.
The House amended a so-called Municipal Relief Act to remove the
offending provision. The overriding bill passed 156-0.
The tax provision would have exempted money cities and towns put aside
for tax abatements from the spending limits of Proposition 2½.
Citizens for Limited Taxation estimated the provision would have raised
property taxes by $500 million, while House Ways and Means Chairman
Charles Murphy said the real cost was more like $164 million.
Regardless of the amount, local legislators said they did not want
Proposition 2½, the property tax-limiting law, tampered with.
"Proposition 2½ is something taxpayers rely on to limit their taxes. I
think it was a very good move to strike that language," said state Rep.
Bill Bowles, D-Attleboro.
Bowles was among the many who filed amendments to kill the provision, as
did the Republican leadership.
Instead of considering the individual amendments, the Democratic
leadership rolled all the proposals into a "consolidated amendment,"
which removed the exemption for the tax abatements.
"That would have been an extremely unwise end around the taxpayers,"
said state Rep. Richard Ross, R-Wrentham.
Beyond the tax issue, the Municipal Relief Act contains several measures
its authors hope will ease the financial trouble cities and towns find
themselves struggling with.
"The bill has got some good features in it," Bowles said.
One important measure, he said, allows cities and towns to offer early
retirement to highly paid, long-time employees with limits of the
ability to replace them, so that there is a salary savings.
More savings would come from stretching out the time frame cities and
towns have to fund their pension liability, reducing its annual costs,
Bowles said.
Barrows said the bill calls for a commission to help cities and towns
change the structure of their employee health care plans so they can
save money.
Ross said he liked another item that provides for a tax amnesty that
allows cities and towns to waive interest and penalty to encourage
property owners to pay overdue taxes.
While Citizens for Limited Taxation, the original sponsor of
Proposition 2½, was leading the fight against the tax provision in the
bill, it was also praising Attleboro and Plainville Assessor Stanley
Nacewicz for his role in shining a light on the language tucked into the
bill.
The group said on its website that Nacewicz originally brought what it
called the "stealth tax assault" in the bill to its attention.
The Eagle-Tribune
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
An Eagle-Tribune editorial
'Relief' plan offers little help to taxpayers
While an effort to sabotage Proposition 2½ fell short, the "municipal
relief" measure approved by the House of Representatives on Monday falls
far short of providing significant aid to the commonwealth's beleaguered
taxpayers.
Most significantly, the Municipal Relief Act fails to give mayors and
town managers the ability to amend municipal health care plans without
negotiating those changes with the various employee unions.
Such authority — which is currently enjoyed by the state — would allow
cities and towns to save millions of dollars a year. But a majority of
legislators were simply afraid to buck the unions that are opposed to
any change in the status quo, which has yielded their members health
care benefits far more generous than what is the norm in the private
sector.
So what constitutes "relief" in the minds of those on Beacon Hill? Well,
one provision allows municipalities to delay full funding of their
also-very-generous pension obligations from 2030 to 2040. Another would
allow them to grant certain employees early retirement. A third gives
cities and towns the authority to negotiate longer-term leases without
legislative approval.
These things may make things easier for those managing municipal
finances, but it certainly doesn't provide much in the way of relief for
those paying the bills. Taxpayers are seeing their property taxes
continue to rise.
Indeed, as House Minority Leader Brad Jones, R-North Reading, noted
Monday, "Since the Patrick-Murray administration assumed office in 2007,
the average property tax bill has increased by 18 percent; from $3,962
in FY07 to the current $4,671."
Some legislators had hoped to allow cities and towns to raise those
property taxes more easily.
A section of the bill would have allowed communities to exempt municipal
"overlay" accounts — the money set aside to pay for property tax
abatements — from Prop 2½ limits. As tax watchdog Citizens for
Limited Taxation was quick to point out, this would have provided
officials with a means of circumventing the levy limit without having to
resort to an override vote.
Fortunately, the ruse was detected and the offending passage was
stripped from the bill.
The Patriot Ledger
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Property taxes go untouched by state lawmakers after backlash
State lawmakers nix plan that would have allowed increases without voter
OK
By Nancy Reardon
After a flood of opposition from local officials and anti-tax groups,
House lawmakers nixed language in a bill that would have allowed
communities to increase property taxes without voter approval.
One local official, Pembroke Selectman Arthur Boyle, said “people would
have been ballistic” if it passed.
Only a handful of South Shore communities are asking voters to approve
raising property taxes this year through a Proposition 2½ override. As
officials deal with yet another tough budget year, they say residents
just don’t have the appetite for paying any more.
Passed in 1980, Proposition 2½ is a law that prevents a city or town
from raising the total amount collected in property taxes by more than
2.5 percent over what was collected in the previous year without voter
approval.
The proposal abandoned Monday by House lawmakers would have allowed
cities and towns to assess property taxes above the limits set by
Proposition 2½ and set the money aside to pay for annual tax abatements.
It was part of a municipal relief bill approved by the House. Republican
lawmakers filed a bipartisan amendment to strike out the property tax
changes.
Boyle said he called his representative, Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Hanson,
as soon as he heard about the proposal last week.
“Literally, the minute I heard about it, I called him to say I was
opposed to it,” Boyle said. “To add even 5 percent, you’re making Prop.
2½ into Prop. 7.”
Rep. Allen McCarthy, D-East Bridgewater, was a co-sponsor on the
amendment that killed the measure. He said he consulted with local
officials in his district, which includes Abington and Whitman, and
concluded that changing the rules “would not benefit the towns I
represent.”
Just this past weekend, Abington voters approved temporary property tax
increases in a Saturday town election through three capital debt
exclusions to reduce a projected $2.1 million budget deficit by
$617,000.
Also on Saturday, voters in Kingston rejected a ballot question to raise
an additional $269,000 in property taxes.
Kingston Town Administrator Jill Myers said Monday that town residents
just don’t want to pay any more this year.
“That’s been the sentiment of the town finance committee,” Myers said.
“They’re doing whatever they can to maintain budgets and keep property
taxes down.”
On March 27, Duxbury voters rejected a $1 million override for studies
of police and fire station upgrades, but they approved two
debt-exclusion overrides.
Only one other local community – Hull – is voting on an override measure
this spring. Voters will consider raising their taxes by $2.25 million
on the May ballot to pay for school personnel, programs and health-care
costs. A Proposition 2½ measure failed in the town’s election last year. |
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Citizens for Limited Taxation ▪
PO Box 1147 ▪ Marblehead, MA 01945
▪ 508-915-3665
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