Citizens for Limited Taxation will be shut down
permanently by the end of the month, leaving 3.4 million of the
state’s beleaguered taxpayers with a final, parting gift — the
refund of $3 billion which they were overtaxed under CLT’s
successful 1986 tax cap ballot question (now technically termed
Chapter 62F) — to add to the tens of billions CLT has saved them
over the decades.
“It’s a new era, time for new energy to move the
tax limitation movement forward in Massachusetts,” said Chip Ford,
executive director of Citizens for Limited Taxation. “For going on
half a century CLT has carried the burden of leadership in that
indispensable mission. The time has come to pass the tax limitation
torch on to another generation. Fortunately for Bay State
taxpayers, and especially for CLT members, Massachusetts Fiscal
Alliance is positioned well to run with that torch.”
"We thank Chip Ford for having faith in us to
carry on the tremendous legacy of Citizens for Limited Taxation.
From the 5% income tax roll back, to Prop 2½ and Chapter 62F, CLT's
legacy continues to have a measurable, positive impact on the
businesses and working families of Massachusetts every day. We look
forward to preserving that legacy and continuing on their mission of
taxpayer protection for decades to come," said Paul D. Craney, a
spokesman for the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance.
Citizens for Limited Taxation and Massachusetts
taxpayers for decades were remarkably served by our inimitable
executive director Barbara Anderson, who passed away while still on
the job in 2016, and associate director Chip Faulkner, who worked
for CLT also until his death in 2019 three years following hers,
both at the age of 73. Chip Ford, CLT’s co-director alongside
Barbara since 1996 then executive director since 2016, turned 73
last month and decided it’s time to step aside, three years after
Faulkner’s passing.
“I’m not particularly superstitious,” Ford said,
“but why tempt the fates? With Paul Craney and his team at
MassFiscal so ably advancing the mission this is a good time and
place for CLT and me to take our leave.”
To promote that continuity, as its final action
CLT has sent out a mailing to all of its members recommending that
they also continue that mission in pursuit of limited taxation and
accountable state government by joining and supporting Massachusetts
Fiscal Alliance.
# # #
Some Highlights
from Citizens for Limited Taxation’s History
1974-75 —
Citizens for Limited Taxation was founded by businessman Edward F.
King to oppose and ultimately defeat the fourth proposed graduated
income tax constitutional amendment on the 1976 ballot.
1980 — CLT, led
by executive director Barbara Anderson, limited relentlessly
escalating property taxes with its successful
Proposition 2½
ballot question.
https://cltg.org/What_Prop_2_Does.pdf
1986 — Having
limited municipal taxes, CLT put repeal of the 1975 Dukakis
7.5% income surtax on the 1986 ballot — along with a cap on overall
state revenue growth and again succeeded. As a result, the
current $3 Billion income tax refunds to 3.4 million taxpayers under
MGL Chapter 62F are today now in hand or underway.
1989 — CLT was a
party to the
Ford v. Lashman
lawsuit challenging the unilateral Dukakis fee increases, settled
out-of-court by the incoming Weld administration in 1992.
https://cltg.org/cltg/cltg99-1/feeschallenge.htm
1989-90 — CLT
put a rollback of the 1989 Dukakis income tax and fees hikes on the
1990 ballot, but it was defeated.
1991-92 — CLT
teamed up with LIMITS to successfully collect signatures for a term
limits constitutional amendment that never made it out of the
Legislature.
1993-94 — CLT
again helped LIMITS put this time a statute for term limits
on the 1994 ballot where it was adopted by the voters, but was later
overturned by the
Supreme Judicial Court.
https://cltg.org/cltg/Death_of_Term_Limits.htm
1994 — CLT led
the successful opposition to the fifth proposed graduated income tax
constitutional amendment ballot question.
1996 — Chip
Ford's Freedom First organization merged with Barbara Anderson's
CLT; they become co-directors of Citizens for Limited Taxation (&
Government).
1997-98 — CLT
collected signatures
for a ballot question to roll back the 1989 “temporary” income tax
hike, but upon a prolonged signature challenge by the Massachusetts
Teachers Association
was disqualified as
being 26 signatures short.
https://cltg.org/cltg/cltg97/promise1997.html
https://cltg.org/cltg/cltg98-1/promidx.html
1999-2000 — CLT
did it all over again, this time collecting far more than enough
signatures to put the income tax rollback onto the 2000 ballot,
where it
won handily with 59%
of the vote.
https://cltg.org/promise/index.htm
2000-02 —
Following our successful income tax rollback CLT filed a bill to
provide for a
voluntary tax check-off
on state income tax forms so those who insisted during the ballot
question campaign that they didn’t “need or want” our tax rollback
weren’t forced to take it. Our bill was adopted by the Legislature
in 2002 and remains the law.
https://cltg.org/voluntary_tax.htm
2002 — The
Legislature “froze” the voters’ tax rollback at 5.3% with arcane
economic “triggers” required to proceed: The 1989 “temporary”
income tax hike was finally
fully rolled back to 5% in 2020,
three decades after it was imposed.
https://cltg.org/cltg/clt2019/19-12-14.htm
2019 — CLT
worked with MassFiscal to oppose and defeat Gov. Bakers multi-state
Transportation and Climate Initiative compact and its accompanying
gas tax hikes.
2022 — CLT and
MassFiscal teamed up to ensure that the income tax refund triggered
by CLT’s successful 1986 tax cap ballot question was implemented
according to the law under Chapter 62F. CLT, MassFiscal, and others
also campaigned against the sixth proposed graduated income tax
constitutional amendment, this time losing by 52%-48%.
Citizens for Limited Taxation
▪ PO
Box 1147 ▪ Marblehead, MA 01945
▪ (781) 639-9709
