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Chip Ford, Executive Director
“Forty years ago today Massachusetts experienced a seismic shift across
the commonwealth in political power and newfound respect for the state’s
taxpayers,” said Chip Ford, executive director of Citizens for Limited
Taxation.
“Four decades ago municipal governments across the state were forced to
limit their relentless property tax increases and to ask their taxpayers
for permission before raising them more than 2.5 percent over the
previous year’s levy,” Ford added. “It was revolutionary, and despite
perennial attacks to weaken and erode Proposition 2˝, through CLT’s
vigilance over the past 40 years it remains the law of the land.”
Boston Broadside’s
senior political reporter Ted Tripp, a long-time CLT member and taxpayer
activist, noted in the paper’s May 2016 issue in his column “Remembering
Barbara Anderson” soon after she’d passed away:
“On November 4, 1980 the voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 2˝
on the ballot by a vote of 59% to 41%. Of the 351 communities in
Massachusetts, 284 voted YES. Of the 67 communities which voted NO,
half were in Franklin County (21) and Barnstable County (12). Essex
(Rockport), Norfolk (Brookline) and Worcester (Southbridge) counties had
only one town in each which voted NO.”
At the celebration of life event for Barbara Anderson held on June 5,
2016, Gov. Charlie Baker eulogized on her impact on Massachusetts
noting:
“Prop 2˝ was probably the single most important thing to happen to
fiscal and economic policy in the Commonwealth of Mass in my lifetime.
Period. Anyone who suggests otherwise is just kidding
themselves.”
Over the past few weeks we contacted many of those visionaries who
conceived, drafted and created Proposition 2˝ four decades ago,
collected the signatures that put it on the 1980 ballot, waged and won
the campaign for its adoption. We sought their thoughts on what they’d
accomplished in 1980:
Edward F. King
“The Father of Proposition 2˝”
Founder, Citizens for Limited Taxation (1974)
(Founded CLT after his defeat of the 1972 graduated income tax; CLT
defeated it again in 1976 by an even larger margin, and for a third time
on the 1996 ballot.)
“One of the proudest accomplishments of Citizens for Limited Taxation is
its legendary Proposition 2˝. For 40 years it has protected homeowners
in Massachusetts, made home ownership possible. Many politicians are
still, constantly working to weaken and get around it. Forty years
later we must always remain vigilant and be ready to fight back.”
Don Feder
CLT's First Executive Director, 1978-79
CLT Executive Secretary, 1976 (anti-grad tax ballot campaign)
“Prop 2˝ was an historic victory for the anti-tax movement, both in
Massachusetts and nationally. We finally went on the offensive after
years of fighting off disastrous ideas like the graduated state income
tax. We must stay strong. Eternal vigilance is the price of tax
limitation.”
Pauline Zywaski
CLT Treasurer, 1974-2018
“I never imagined that on November 4 in 1974 when I deposited the first
check for the newly-formed Citizens for Limited Taxation for its fight
against the statewide Graduated Income Tax ballot question that CLT
would become the largest tax group in Massachusetts that would fight
taxes and successfully return income to the individual taxpayer and
limit the growth and spending of state government. Though there have
been many CLT successes over the decades, Proposition 2˝ was our premier
achievement.”
Ray Stata
Co-founder of Analog Devices (1965)
Co-founder, first president of the Massachusetts High Technology Council
(1977-2017)
“Collaboration with Citizens for Limited Taxation in passing Proposition
2˝ was one of the crowning and most enduring achievements of
Massachusetts High Technology Council. From the beginning the goal of
MHTC was to reverse the damaging image of Taxachusetts and to make the
State a better place to live and build successful businesses.
“Property taxes especially were out of control with no way to stop the
upward spiral. Proposition 2˝ provided an effective solution which has
worked well for decades to keep property taxes more in line with other
states.
“Today people forget and discount the benefits of Prop 2˝ to
automatically keep taxes under control. It takes constant vigilance and
commitment to prevent erosion of the simple, powerful constraints
imposed by Proposition 2˝.”
Howard Foley
President, Mass High Tech Council (1978-2001)
“A 40th Anniversary for anything is a milestone, some good, some not so
good, and in this case, all my thoughts are extremely positive about
what was accomplished on Nov. 4, 1980 by Citizens for Limited Taxation
and the Massachusetts High Technology Council. Together, we had a
chance to improve the lives of every citizen who was fortunate to live
in Massachusetts, but it was a state in serious need of a far more
favorable tax climate for everyone. That’s what Prop 2˝ made possible.
“This would not have happened were it not for CLT and its then-leader
Barbara Anderson. Barbara was fantastic in every sense of the word. I
can’t tell you how many times during our initiative petition campaign
and after in the Massachusetts Legislature that I said: “Yes Barbara,
will-do Barbara, whatever you say Barbara.” All I had to do was listen
and be a “good boy.” We won and Prop 2˝ still lives.
“I was fortunate that I had the honor of working with some of the finest
Massachusetts business leaders one could imagine led by Ray Stata, the
founder of Analog Devices. Our Council’s collaboration with CLT in
support of Proposition 2˝ was one of the most important tax policy
issues we were ever involved in.”
Attorney Paul Peter Nicolai
Chairman, CLT Board of Directors, 1981-1997
“Back at the time this was passed, Massachusetts had property taxes that
were 70% above the national average. Today, residential property taxes
in Massachusetts are about 10% higher than the national average.
“More importantly, passage of Proposition 2˝ caused the state to rewrite
its finances and greatly increase the involvement of state government in
the financing of local activities like schools, roads, etc.
“As a result, actual municipal expenditures have become much more
reliant on less regressive taxes and the overall regressivity of
Massachusetts taxes has been greatly reduced by the fact that the state
now relies more heavily on income and transaction taxes than property
taxes.”
Celebrating Proposition 2˝’s 25th anniversary in 2005, Barbara
Anderson — “The Mother of Proposition 2˝” — wrote in a
Boston Herald column (“Let
the party continue for tax savings”):
“Once an initiative petition, then a controversial ballot question, Prop
2˝ is now an institution. Older taxpayers remember that there was a
time when property taxes in Taxachusetts were the second highest in the
nation, 70 percent above the national average. Younger taxpayers take
the levy limit for granted and only know that if their community wants
more taxes it has to ask voters for an override. C’est la vie!”
Four months before her death in 2016, in her weekly Salem News
column Barbara Anderson wrote (“Revisiting
the tax revolt . . .”):
“The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation (MTF) has just released its 45th
annual municipal finance report, telling us that in fiscal year 2015,
local revenue grew 3.8 percent. This includes local aid from the state,
fees, and the auto excise tax (which is also limited by Proposition 2˝),
but the main source of municipal revenue, the property tax . . .
“Compared to the unlimited, uncontrolled property tax hikes of the
1970s, Massachusetts taxpayers have lower taxes and more control. In
our commonwealth as a whole, the overall property tax burden has dropped
from one of its usual three highest in the nation; it’s no longer even
in the top 10. The Washington-based Tax Foundation lists it at 18th in
‘property taxes paid as a percentage of median home value for
owner-occupied homes.’ Prop 2˝ should continue to protect us from the
overspending and unfunded liabilities noted by the Salem News’
editorial on the MTF report. . . .
“When Citizens for Limited collected signatures for the property tax
initiative petition, I was the secretary in the office; the one who
typed it. I was not involved in board discussions about the many
complicated provisions; and yet, when my boss quit in July, after the
petition was filed to go to the ballot, I became executive director of
CLT. My job was to sell it for a yes vote on the November ballot.
“I was happy to do this: I’m a strong believer in simplification, so I
just told everyone, ‘We all know property taxes are too high, and this
will fix them.’”
Forty years later CLT’s Proposition 2˝ continues to keep them fixed.
●
CLT’s Proposition 2˝ — What It Does . . . And Has Done For Taxpayers
Since 1980
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What CLT's Proposition 2˝ saves you in your auto excise tax alone —
every year, year after year
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More Proposition 2˝ Information
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Downloadable | Printable version of this news release
