 |
and the
Citizens Economic Research Foundation
Post Office Box 1147 ●
Marblehead, Massachusetts 01945 ●
(508)
915-3665
“Every Tax is a Pay Cut ... A Tax Cut is a Pay Raise”
44 years as “The Voice of Massachusetts Taxpayers”
— and
their Institutional Memory — |
|
CLT UPDATE
Thursday, June 14, 2018
CLT Status Report
|
It’s
hard to argue with clean streets, streetlights that work,
sidewalks that get shoveled in the winter and maybe even a
bench or two to take a break from those strolls through
town. Most of us don’t consider these to be extras — we
expect them in our communities. And most of us, in some form
or another, pay for them with our taxes. That’s why it’s
hard to appreciate a movement on Beacon Hill that seeks to
create a new species of community improvement organization
to do basically this work, funded with dues charged to local
property owners. It’s especially hard to appreciate when we
already have such a function in our lives, and we send our
contributions to it payable to the local treasurer and
collector.
The goals of so-called community benefit districts — new
streetscapes, arts districts, historic districts and the
like — sound swell enough that some lawmakers are warming to
the idea, and support for them is spreading on Beacon Hill.
They're especially enticing for lawmakers and local leaders
who must contend with budgets stretched taught by pension
contributions, healthcare costs, union contracts and similar
forces....
Indeed, these districts would make living in our
communities that much more expensive. They essentially raise
property taxes without calling it as much. What’s more, they
do so with a new tier of government — each would have its
own 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, presumably with its own
directors or trustees.
We’re all for communities working together to make
improvements, and for supporting the nonprofit groups and
religious organizations that fill in the void left by
government. We’re not for novel ways to increase property
taxes....
“Block by block they’re coming for taxpayers,” laments
Chip Ford, director of Citizens for Limited Taxation.
“Will the Legislature next propose also taxing us at the
street level, then backyard by backyard? Today such
speculation is not so far fetched.”
In November 1980, Massachusetts voters put a stop to this
silliness by restraining the annual growth of local property
tax collections. There are ways around the limits of
Proposition 2˝ if there’s work to be done that isn’t covered
by the municipal budget, and that no private group is
willing to raise money to accomplish. Communities can vote
for debt exclusions or overrides.
But those require something more than a public hearing.
They require voters' approval of a referendum — a process
that ensures everyone’s input is considered before our
property taxes go up.
A Salem News editorial
Monday, June 11, 2018
Community benefit districts a tax hike in disguise
While tax collections are beating budget benchmarks by
$879 million with just one month left in the fiscal year,
the word surplus never came up Tuesday as Gov. Charlie
Baker's budget chief outlined the revenue side of the
state's fiscal picture....
Lawmakers in each of the last two years cited slow growth
in tax collections as their reason for not embracing a
summer sales tax holiday. The issue remains unresolved on
Beacon Hill this year, but is included in a planned ballot
question.
The size of any potential surplus for fiscal 2018 is
being influenced by a steady stream of midyear spending
bills that are being processed on Beacon Hill.
State House News Service
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
No word on surplus, but Heffernan says tax numbers "remain
good"
When the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial
Court met on Feb. 6 to consider the fate of the so-called
millionaires’ tax, the stakes were high. If the SJC decided
to kill the measure, the state would lose out on billions of
dollars in new tax revenue each year for schools and
transit. If the SJC upheld the proposal, the owners of
thousands of pass-through businesses would be hit with
higher taxes, expenses that some of them contend would cause
them to shift operations out of state.
Since that blustery winter day, both
proponents and opponents of the tax have anxiously awaited
word from the SJC. And today, more than four months later,
they’re still waiting. And waiting. And waiting....
The SJC typically takes a few months
following oral arguments to issue its decision in a case.
But the lack of a ruling on the millionaires’ tax isn’t a
mere annoyance. It’s had practical effects on negotiations
surrounding three other ballot measures: a minimum wage
hike, paid family and medical leave, and a sales tax cut....
If the SJC upholds the tax, it would rattle
some business lobbying groups that, based on the judges’
line of questioning in February, believe the SJC is likely
to strike down the measure. An unfavorable ruling could lead
them to rethink their stance in the negotiations.
But if the SJC kills the millionaires’ tax,
it could hand more leverage to the Retailers Association of
Massachusetts, since their sales tax cut would then be the
only revenue game-changer poised to go to the ballot. “It
becomes easier to negotiate something that’s middle of the
road” in the event the SJC strikes down the proposal, RAM
President Jon Hurst recently told the Business Journal....
Raise Up was told by its legal team to
expect an SJC ruling in April or May, according to Finfer.
Lawmakers have urged the SJC to publish a decision soon, he
added.
The SJC has no official deadline to issue a
decision, according to a court spokeswoman. It heard its
final oral arguments of the term in May, she said.
Boston Business Journal
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
Businesses are still waiting for the millionaires’ tax
ruling.
Here's what's at stake
More than 100 lawmakers -- 22 members of the
40-seat Senate and 83 in the 160-seat House of
Representatives -- are on track to cruise another term
without facing an official challenge, according to data from
Secretary of State William Galvin's office.
But the new class of legislators seated in
January will also include at least 24 new faces, with 20
representatives and four senators either leaving Beacon Hill
during this session or opting against re-election bids.
There's an opportunity for more newcomers to join by
pursuing the steeper climb of challenging an incumbent, an
effort being undertaken in 14 Senate districts and 57 House
districts.
State House News Service
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
An inside look at hotspots within the 2018 legislative
elections
|
|
Chip Ford's CLT
Commentary
Isn't it strange how little is being
reported on the so-called "community benefit districts"
legislation? As you know, I monitor all topics related
to taxpayer interests on Beacon Hill and reported in the
news, and apparently only
The Salem News is reporting this backdoor assault on
CLT's Proposition 2˝
― taking a position
opposed to it. If CLT wasn't
publicizing this attack on taxpayers nobody would know
it's even being done to them, if anyone even cares.
You can bet they'll suddenly care if it
becomes law when they get their first "benefit district"
bills, on top of their property tax bills! That's when
CLT will start getting their calls.
If there is still a CLT to call, or anyone
who cares.
"While tax collections are beating budget
benchmarks by $879 million with just one month left in the
fiscal year, the word surplus never came up," The State
House News Service observed. "The size of any
potential surplus for fiscal 2018 is being influenced by a
steady stream of midyear spending bills that are being
processed on Beacon Hill."
And there you have the Bacon Hill philosophy
in a nutshell, and why More Is Never Enough (MINE) and never
will be. There is no such thing as a surplus in
Massachusetts. 'If it's available, spend it quickly.'
They'll come back for more later when they've spent us into
the next "fiscal crisis" and there's not enough to further
squander.
Meanwhile, everyone's standing by with bated
breath awaiting the state Supreme Judicial Court's decision
on whether or not the sixth potential Graduated
Income Tax constitutional amendment (aka, the "Millionaires
Tax" or "Fair Share Amendment") will be allowed on the
November ballot. The decision has been expected for
some time, but the waiting goes on.
I hope I'm here when it is announced, but if
that occurs next week I won't be available to inform you
until I return from my trip out-of-state.
As I've reported a few times recently,
support for CLT has been steadily declining. I
mentioned in the last CLT Update that a decision on CLT's
fate is closing in. Next week I am flying out-of-state
to explore my options for when the doors close at CLT.
This will be the first time-off I've had from my 14-16 hour
days working for CLT seven days a week, 52 weeks a year
since Barbara passed away two years ago
― my first vacation leave.
Upon my return from scouting for a less
abusive and oppressive, more affordable place to relocate
(they are multitude), CLT will be mailing out to you its
last fundraising appeal package. The response to it
will determine whether CLT will be able to continue through
the November election, or instead will just fade away as
operating funds run out. I'd like to see CLT fight on
through the coming election ― a
final crusade on behalf of taxpayers ―
but even if we somehow manage to stretch CLT's
life-support through then, it'll be game-over, the end of an
era. "44 Years As The Voice of Massachusetts
Taxpayers" will end at 44.
There is simply not enough support any more
for the sustained effort required to defend Massachusetts
taxpayers. Too few and getting fewer are carrying the
burden for far too many who have taken a free ride for all
these decades. Soon all will need to individually fend
for themselves, without CLT. I don't want be here when
that happens. That's why I'm looking to bail out now.
I thought you should know what's ahead so
that, like me, you too can begin making your own
self-defense preparations.
|
 |
 |
|
Chip Ford
Executive Director |
|
|
|
|
The Salem News
Monday, June 11, 2018
A Salem News editorial
Community benefit districts a tax hike in
disguise
It’s hard to argue with clean streets,
streetlights that work, sidewalks that get
shoveled in the winter and maybe even a bench or
two to take a break from those strolls through
town. Most of us don’t consider these to be
extras — we expect them in our communities. And
most of us, in some form or another, pay for
them with our taxes.
That’s why it’s hard to appreciate a movement on
Beacon Hill that seeks to create a new species
of community improvement organization to do
basically this work, funded with dues charged to
local property owners. It’s especially hard to
appreciate when we already have such a function
in our lives, and we send our contributions to
it payable to the local treasurer and collector.
The goals of so-called community benefit
districts — new streetscapes, arts districts,
historic districts and the like — sound swell
enough that some lawmakers are warming to the
idea, and support for them is spreading on
Beacon Hill. They're especially enticing for
lawmakers and local leaders who must contend
with budgets stretched taught by pension
contributions, healthcare costs, union contracts
and similar forces.
Something like these districts — advocates liken
them to a condo association for your
neighborhood — would make it easier to get
projects rolling and get things done.
Except, who ever wished for a condo association?
Indeed, these districts would make living in our
communities that much more expensive. They
essentially raise property taxes without calling
it as much. What’s more, they do so with a new
tier of government — each would have its own
501(c)3 nonprofit organization, presumably with
its own directors or trustees.
We’re all for communities working together to
make improvements, and for supporting the
nonprofit groups and religious organizations
that fill in the void left by government. We’re
not for novel ways to increase property taxes.
But this is what groups such as the
Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance — and
lawmakers including Sen. Brendan Crighton, a
Lynn Democrat and primary sponsor of the Senate
bill — want us to do. Property owners and
businesses in these community benefit districts
would chip in for security or beautification or
cultural programs, they tell us.
And Rep. Ann Margaret Ferrante, a Gloucester
Democrat, notes the districts won’t be drawn
without public input. “This isn’t something that
can just be imposed on property owners,” she
told Statehouse reporter Christian Wade.
That is, until it is, in fact, imposed on
property owners. Then you’d better get out your
checkbook.
And never mind the quarterly payment of $1,822
made by the owner of the average single-family
home in North Andover, or $1,654 in Amesbury or
$1,337 in Salem. This will be extra.
“Block by block they’re coming for taxpayers,”
laments Chip Ford, director of
Citizens for Limited Taxation. “Will the
Legislature next propose also taxing us at the
street level, then backyard by backyard? Today
such speculation is not so far fetched.”
In November 1980, Massachusetts voters put a
stop to this silliness by restraining the annual
growth of local property tax collections. There
are ways around the limits of Proposition 2˝ if
there’s work to be done that isn’t covered by
the municipal budget, and that no private group
is willing to raise money to accomplish.
Communities can vote for debt exclusions or
overrides.
But those require something more than a public
hearing. They require voters' approval of a
referendum — a process that ensures everyone’s
input is considered before our property taxes go
up.
State House News Service
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
No word on surplus, but Heffernan says tax
numbers "remain good"
By Michael P. Norton
While tax collections are beating budget
benchmarks by $879 million with just one month
left in the fiscal year, the word surplus never
came up Tuesday as Gov. Charlie Baker's budget
chief outlined the revenue side of the state's
fiscal picture.
"I keep coming with good news, which is great,"
Administration and Finance Secretary Michael
Heffernan told mayors and other municipal
officials attending a meeting with Baker aides.
"The numbers remain good. We remain hopeful that
we don't give substantial amounts back in June
but we won't know until early July so our next
meeting will be really interesting."
Over-benchmark sales tax collections are
reflective of "strong employment numbers" in
Massachusetts, Heffernan said, adding "there are
now more job openings than there are people
looking for jobs" at the national level.
State officials "really don't have a good feel"
for how much of the boost in tax collections in
December and January stem from changes in
federal tax laws, said Heffernan. Estimated
corporate and estimated income tax payments,
which are due June 15, are important to the
revenue picture this month, he added.
Lawmakers in each of the last two years cited
slow growth in tax collections as their reason
for not embracing a summer sales tax holiday.
The issue remains unresolved on Beacon Hill this
year, but is included in a planned ballot
question.
The size of any potential surplus for fiscal
2018 is being influenced by a steady stream of
midyear spending bills that are being processed
on Beacon Hill.
Boston Business Journal
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
Businesses are still waiting for the
millionaires’ tax ruling.
Here's what's at stake
By Greg Ryan
When the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
met on Feb. 6 to consider the fate of the
so-called millionaires’ tax, the stakes were
high. If the SJC decided to kill the measure,
the state would lose out on billions of dollars
in new tax revenue each year for schools and
transit. If the SJC upheld the proposal, the
owners of thousands of pass-through businesses
would be hit with higher taxes, expenses that
some of them contend would cause them to shift
operations out of state.
Since that blustery winter day, both proponents
and opponents of the tax have anxiously awaited
word from the SJC. And today, more than four
months later, they’re still waiting. And
waiting. And waiting.
“We’re surprised... we haven’t gotten a decision
yet,” said Rick Lord, president and CEO of
Associated Industries of Massachusetts, in an
interview last week. Lord, who is one of five
people who first asked the SJC back in October
to review the proposal, added, “Our attorney at
Goodwin Procter thought we would have had this a
month ago."
The SJC typically takes a few months following
oral arguments to issue its decision in a case.
But the lack of a ruling on the millionaires’
tax isn’t a mere annoyance. It’s had practical
effects on negotiations surrounding three other
ballot measures: a minimum wage hike, paid
family and medical leave, and a sales tax cut.
Labor groups and their allies, business leaders,
and lawmakers have been trying to strike a
“grand bargain” in the legislature that would
keep the proposals off the November ballot. The
proposals’ sponsors must decide once and for all
whether to go to the ballot by July 3.
The millionaires’ tax isn’t technically on the
table in those talks. (It’s a proposed
constitutional amendment, so voters get final
approval, not lawmakers.) But it very much looms
over the discussions. The SJC’s ruling will
likely shift the power dynamics in the
contentious negotiations.
If the SJC upholds the tax, it would rattle some
business lobbying groups that, based on the
judges’ line of questioning in February, believe
the SJC is likely to strike down the measure. An
unfavorable ruling could lead them to rethink
their stance in the negotiations.
But if the SJC kills the millionaires’ tax, it
could hand more leverage to the Retailers
Association of Massachusetts, since their sales
tax cut would then be the only revenue
game-changer poised to go to the ballot. “It
becomes easier to negotiate something that’s
middle of the road” in the event the SJC strikes
down the proposal, RAM President Jon Hurst
recently told the Business Journal.
For now, the parties to the talks are waiting
for the SJC’s sizable shoe to drop. But the
talks are incredibly time sensitive. The
drop-dead deadline is July 3, but realistically,
Raise Up Massachusetts — the sponsor of the
millionaires’ tax, minimum wage and paid leave
proposals — and business groups would have to
reach a compromise sooner than that. Any
agreement will need to be drafted into
legislation, passed by the House and the Senate,
and signed by Gov. Charlie Baker.
Raise Up described the negotiations on minimum
wage as “at a standstill” in a letter last week.
Raise Up co-chair Lew Finfer said Tuesday,
however, that it’s still possible a grand
bargain compromise can be reached. A compromise
on paid family and medical leave is considered
closer to reality.
But the millionaires’ tax remains a key
variable. “It’s hard for everyone until they
decide on that,” Finfer said.
Raise Up was told by its legal team to expect an
SJC ruling in April or May, according to Finfer.
Lawmakers have urged the SJC to publish a
decision soon, he added.
The SJC has no official deadline to issue a
decision, according to a court spokeswoman. It
heard its final oral arguments of the term in
May, she said.
State House News Service
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
An inside look at hotspots within the 2018
legislative elections
By Katie Lannan
An eight-way race for a district that last
elected a new representative in the 1970s. A
former lawmaker looking to oust an incumbent and
make his return after serving federal time for
voter fraud. The Republican treasurer
candidate's husband vying to take her place in
the House.
Those are just three of the contests that will
be on the ballot this fall as all 200 seats in
the state Legislature come up for election.
More than 100 lawmakers -- 22 members of the
40-seat Senate and 83 in the 160-seat House of
Representatives -- are on track to cruise
another term without facing an official
challenge, according to data from Secretary of
State William Galvin's office.
But the new class of legislators seated in
January will also include at least 24 new faces,
with 20 representatives and four senators either
leaving Beacon Hill during this session or
opting against re-election bids. There's an
opportunity for more newcomers to join by
pursuing the steeper climb of challenging an
incumbent, an effort being undertaken in 14
Senate districts and 57 House districts.
Even if all incumbents are re-elected, the nine
current vacancies and 15 lawmakers not seeking
new terms guarantee that 2019 will feature more
legislative turnover than 2017, when 12 new
representatives and three new senators joined
the body.
On the Senate side, the busiest races are for
the two currently open seats, last held by
Stanley Rosenberg and Lowell city manager Eileen
Donoghue.
Five Democrats, including two Lowell city
councilors, and one Republican are in the mix
for Donoghue's seat. Northampton Democrat
Chelsea Kline is the only candidate on the
ballot for Rosenberg's seat, though at least
four others have launched write-in campaigns.
Rep. Diana DiZoglio, a Methuen Democrat, is one
of two candidates running for the seat Sen.
Kathleen O'Connor Ives will leave at the end of
her term. Former Sen. Barry Finegold of Andover
is among a field of four as he vies to reclaim
the seat he gave up to run for treasurer in
2014, now held by Congressional hopeful Sen.
Barbara L'Italien.
Three other former lawmakers are seeking to
return to the House.
The race for the Lawrence seat now held by Rep.
Juana Matias -- who is running, like L'Italien,
in the 10-way Democratic primary to succeed U.S.
Rep. Niki Tsongas -- will be a rematch between
Lawrence Democrats Marcos Devers and William
Lantigua, who have both previously held the
seat. Devers was unseated by Matias in 2016, and
Lantigua resigned in 2010 after facing criticism
for his plan to serve as both representative and
mayor.
In Everett, one of the two Democrats who have
emerged to challenge Rep. Joseph McGonagle is
Stephen "Stat" Smith, newly eligible to run
again after a five-year period in which he
agreed not to seek office as part of a voter
fraud sentence.
Smith, who was elected to the House in 2006,
pleaded guilty in 2013 to charges connected to
obtaining absentee ballots for ineligible voters
and in some cases casting ballots for voters
without them knowing it.
McGonagle is one of 15 House Democrats facing
primary challenges. Three Senate Democrats --
Adam Hinds of Pittsfield, James Welch of West
Springfield, and Jason Lewis of Winchester --
have primary opponents, and Lewis also faces a
Republican challenge.
Barnstable Rep. Randy Hunt, who also faces a
general election opponent, is the only
Republican in either branch with a primary
challenger. Three House Democrats also face both
primary and general election challengers, Reps.
Colleen Garry of Dracut, Jerald Parisella of
Beverly and Jim Hawkins of Attleboro.
Reps. Susannah Whipps of Athol and Solomon
Goldstein-Rose of Amherst, both of whom left
their parties this session to become unenrolled,
each have Democrat challengers.
Goldstein-Rose, who was elected as a Democrat in
2016 after longtime Rep. Ellen Story retired,
will square off against the winner of a primary
between Mindy Domb, whom Story has endorsed, and
Eric Nakajima, who finished second in the
six-way 2016 primary.
House Democrats facing competition from within
their own party include a handful who chair
committees or hold other leadership positions:
House Ways and Means Chair Jeffrey Sanchez and
Assistant Vice Chair Liz Malia, both of Jamaica
Plain; Assistant Majority Leader Byron Rushing
of Boston; Public Health Committee Chair Kate
Hogan of Stow; and Mental Health, Substance Use
and Recovery Committee Chair Denise Garlick of
Needham.
Four Democrats are bidding to unseat the House's
longest serving member, Readville Democrat Rep.
Angelo Scaccia, who is running for a 23rd term.
There are seven vacancies in the House,
including the seats last held by Sens. Brendan
Crighton and Nick Collins, Kingston town
administrator Tom Calter, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey
aide Jim Cantwell, and three lawmakers who died
in office: Reps. Peter Kocot, Jim Miceli and
Chris Walsh.
Walsh died May 2, a day after the filing
deadline for legislative races. The Framingham
Democratic Committee on May 20 decided against
caucusing to nominate a candidate for Walsh's
seat, leaving no names on the ballot and
creating an opportunity for write-in campaigns.
The April death of Miceli, who had represented
Tewksbury and Wilmington since 1977, set off a
scramble to succeed him. Five Democrats, two
Republicans and one unenrolled candidate, are
now competing for his seat.
Eight candidates, all Democrats, are also in the
mix for the seat now held by Worthington Rep.
Stephen Kulik.
Kulik and Reps. Frank Smizik, Cory Atkins, Jay
Kaufman, James Dwyer and John Scibak are all
retiring after this term.
Seven other representatives, including Matias
and DiZoglio, are leaving the House to run for
other seats: Keiko Orrall (treasurer), Geoff
Diehl (U.S. Senate), Kevin Kuros (Worcester
register of deeds), Kate Campanale (Worcester
register of deeds), and Evandro Carvalho
(Suffolk district attorney).
The residents of Orrall's 12th Bristol District
-- Bristol, Lakeville and parts of Taunton and
Middleborough -- could still end up with a Rep.
Orrall next year. Her husband, Lakeville
Republican Norman Orrall, is one of two
candidates seeking the seat.
Spouses have succeeded each other in the
Legislature before. North Attleborough
Republican Rep. Elizabeth Poirier won her seat
in a 1999 special election after her husband,
Kevin Poirier, resigned from the House. |
| |
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this
material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes
only. For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
Citizens for Limited Taxation ▪
PO Box 1147 ▪ Marblehead, MA 01945
▪ 508-915-3665
BACK TO CLT
HOMEPAGE
|
