CLT News Release
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Proposition 2½
under attack
October 22, 2019
To: Republican
Members of the House
RE: Proposition 2½
attacked
Dear Representative;
We were gratified to see that the
House dropped the
“mitigation” of Proposition 2½ from its version of an education
funding reform bill, amending S-2365.
But we are disappointed to find that Rep. Farley-Bouvier has resurrected
it as Amendment #2
to H-4137.
In the Senate version, when its Amendment #27, offered by Sen. Joanne M.
Comerford (D-Northampton) and supported by Sen. Eric P. Lesser
(D-Longmeadow), was adopted on October 3 (Roll
Call #102) CLT immediately contacted your office. Beacon Hill
Roll Call at the time described it as:
“[A]n amendment requiring the
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to analyze the impact
of Proposition 2½ on the ability of municipalities to make their
required local contributions in the short-term and long-term and
recommendations to mitigate the constraints of Proposition 2½.”
[Emphasis added.]
“Mitigating the constraints of Proposition 2½”
is cause for alarm at Citizens for Limited Taxation, which provided
Proposition 2½ to property taxpayers in 1980.
Over the decades Proposition 2½ has
come under
many stealth attacks in efforts to dilute and circumvent it, so
another is not surprising. We at Citizens for Limited Taxation — our
members, and property taxpayers across the commonwealth — hope you and
other House members will strive to defeat Amendment #2 and will continue
to protect Proposition 2½ for your constituents.
Thank you for your hopeful support,
and success.
Chip Ford
Executive Director
Citizens for Limited Taxation
MORE INFORMATION FOLLOWS
Beacon Hill Roll Call
Volume 44 - Report No. 40
By Bob Katzen
September 30-October 4, 2019
PROP 2½ (S-2350)
Senate 34-4, approved an amendment
requiring the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to
analyze the impact of Proposition 2½ on the ability of municipalities to
make their required local contributions in the short-term and long-term
and recommendations to mitigate the constraints of Proposition 2½.
Prop 2½ allows communities to raise
property taxes only 2.5 percent a year over the previous year’s levy.
The limit can be overridden by a majority of voters.
Amendment supporters said many
cities and towns are willing to step up and to tax themselves more to
pay for vital services but Proposition 2½ puts a cap on that. They said
that once the levy limit is reached, towns have no ability to raise
revenue to pay for services and have to start laying people off and
cutting services.
“Since the moment I began
campaigning, I heard about the pressure that multiple municipalities in
my district are under as a result of Prop. 2½ constraints,” said the
amendment’s sponsor Sen. Jo Comerford (D-Northampton). “A major
driver of municipal expenses has been education. These towns want to go
the distance for our schools, and so it is only fitting that we use this
education legislation to understand the impact Prop 2½ is having on
their ability to help fund our schools, and then work with these
communities to find an equitable way forward.”
"Proposition 2½ caps property tax
hikes unilaterally imposed by municipal officials at 2.5 percent, but
there is no limit to how much willing municipal taxpayers can tax
themselves through a Proposition 2½ operational override — if a majority
of the city’s or town’s electorate is so inclined," said Chip Ford,
executive director of Citizens for Limited Taxation (CLT), the
group that created and put Prop 2½ on the 1980 ballot. "If those
officials want to spend more, let them ask their constituents for more
to spend. This is precisely why CLT proposed its property tax cap and
why voters overwhelmingly adopted it. They can 'study the impact' but a
solution is in their hands."
“Every Tax is a Pay Cut ... A Tax Cut is a Pay Raise”
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Citizens for Limited Taxation ▪ PO
Box 1147 ▪ Marblehead, MA 01945
▪ (781) 639-9709
