Barrett, Guyer Warn of Looming Fiscal Fiasco
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| Mayor John Barrett III |
At Tuesday morning's opening breakfast for Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts' spring semester, the Dalton Democrat addressed the mayor's concerns about a fiscal crisis, even going as far as to suggest considering raising the income tax.
"I may lose my seat for saying this but something needs to be done," Guyer said. "Things don't look good fiscally. I wish I had better news. People like me, we need to have discussions with all of you about how we're going to raise revenue for the state and that conversation needs to include the possibility of raising income tax."
Guyer's comments came on the heels of Barrett's claim that the state's financial situation is the worst he'd ever seen it in his 23 years as mayor and the plight of the struggling cities and towns would most assuredly affect higher education.
"It ain't good - from the administration right on down. It doesn't seem there's a will or a desire to change their tactics," Barrett told the crowd of education and community leaders. "I don't see any light at the end of this tunnel unless there's real change."
"[Former Gov. Mitt] Romney got more done in his first year in office. It was all bad, but he got more done," the mayor added.
Gov. Deval Patrick has proposed a host of initiatives - many bearing high price tags - that are now stalled in the Legislature. While lawmakers are backing a number of his proposals, they've mostly balked at his claims that casino gambling could help solve the state's fiscal woes. And there's a looming budget deficit pegged at $1.3 billion.
<L2>In an interview later in the day, Barrett said the key to saving the state from its economic woes is repairing the strained relationship between Patrick and the Legislature. In an address at the Massachusetts Municipal Association's annual meeting last week, Patrick harshly criticized lawmakers for stalling on what he viewed as critical tax proposals.
"You can't bash the legislators. You have to sit down and negotiate with them," said Barrett, who added that continued animosity between the governor and the Legislature would lead to "gridlock."
Barrett and Patrick can agree on one thing, at least. In his Municipal Partnership Act, the governor has advocated allowing municipalities to levy local taxes on lodging and meals, giving cities and towns the choice to explore these ways of increasing their own revenue. A supporter of the optional hotel and motel/meals tax options, Barrett said the additional income would help close the gap that resulted from a loss in state aid and a drop in state Lottery revenues.
"I don't want [the Legislature or the governor] to raise taxes but they should give the communities the opportunity to make that decision," he said.
Saying he wasn't interested in raising the income tax - "I'm not into that gig" - the mayor instead has been promoting a revenue-sharing system that would infuse 40 percent of the state's new revenue back to the municipalities. The "40/10" revenue-sharing system would be phased in over five years and 40 percent of the state's three major tax sources - personal income, corporate income and sales - would go back to cities and towns. Ten percent of those tax revenues would be set aside for other discretionary spending on non-education services.
According to a story by the State House News Service released last week, the plan has stalled as many lawmakers are hesitant to back it in an already-tight fiscal situation, especially considering the possibility of a recession.
The plan helps municipalities by allowing communities to make multiyear budgeting decisions by getting reliable local aid figures from the state early each year, according to the MMA's Executive Director Geoffrey Beckwith, as reported by the State House News Service.
"Fiscal crisis, real or perceived, is going to be hurting cities and towns. You're going to see several communities go into receivership. There's just no state money," said Barrett.
And Guyer understands the problem, though the solution may make him unpopular.
"Until we start having these uncomfortable discussions about raising revenue, it's going to be painful. We're going to continue chasing our tails - chasing our tails downward," he said. "We've avoided this conversation for 16 years. We're sitting here arguing and other states are passing us by."
