CLT News Release
Thursday, July 14, 2016
Massachusetts Senate
Still Doesn't Get It
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
It was bad enough
when the State Senate added an amendment which opened the door on
driver’s licenses for illegal aliens. Now it has passed an amendment to
the municipal government reform bill which would increase the tax burden
on already overtaxed taxpayers.
Sen. Benjamin Downing
(D-Pittsfield) filed his amendment giving communities an option to levy
a local tax to pay for local transportation costs. It was adopted in a
33-7 vote. It's not surprising that this bill was filed by Sen. Downing,
whose last CLT taxpayer rating was 5% ― voting against the taxpayers 95%
of the time.
The Downing amendment
states that taxes could be assessed by municipalities on “payroll,
sales, property or vehicle excise tax.”
An increase on a
sales tax that jumped 25% only a few years ago? Or on property taxes
that are still high and would be a lot higher if not for Proposition 2˝?
Or on the auto excise that is annoyingly high at $22 per thousand of
assessed value yet would be almost triple that if not for Proposition
2˝?
Authorizing
municipalities to levy a tax on income would be precedent-setting in
Massachusetts and open a Pandora's Box of complexities and further
precedents. And this would come on top of the state’s income tax rate ―
still not rolled back to its historic 5% after it was increased
“temporarily” twenty-seven years ago.
With Governor Baker
and House Speaker DeLeo both on the record as opposed to any new taxes
or tax increases, this amendment deserves to be stricken from the
municipal government reform bill.
Higher taxes under
any guise are not reforms.
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State House
News Service
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
State Capitol Briefs
Senate approves plan to allow local transpo taxes
By Sam Doran
Massachusetts municipalities or regions would have the
option of levying a tax to pay for local transportation
costs, under an amendment added Wednesday to a municipal
government reform bill. Amendment sponsor Sen. Benjamin
Downing said a single statewide tax to solve transportation
funding problems would "pit one region against another" and
argued communities should be able to band together and vote
on whether to have their own regional transportation tax.
Downing, who represents 52 western Massachusetts
communities, said his proposal would provide a "tool" for
municipalities to pay for their transportation needs but
would not require them to use it. The amendment was tacked
on to the Senate Ways and Means redraft of the municipal
government bill (S 2410) by a 33-7 vote.
Six Republicans were joined by Sen. James Timilty in
opposition. Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, who dubbed the
"titan of taxation" while asking for an explanation of the
amendment, did not outline an argument against the amendment
before voting against it.
The amendment says local transportation taxes could be
assessed on "payroll, sales, property, or vehicle excise
tax." To take effect, a local transportation tax would need
the approval of local bodies - city councils, selectmen
— and approval by local voters
at the ballot.
Citizens for Limited Taxation ▪ PO
Box 1147 ▪ Marblehead, MA 01945
▪ 508-915-3665