Local Leaders Urge a No Vote on Question 1
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Those present included state Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli, D-Lenox; North Adams City Council President Alan Marden and Councilors Richard Alcombright, Lisa Blackmer and Gailanne Cariddi; Northern Berkshire United Way Executive Director James L. Canavan Jr.; MCLA Vice President James Stakenas, representing the college trustees, and North Adams Teachers' Association President Christopher Caproni.
The question, if passed, would cut the state income tax in half, to 2.65 percent, effective the tax year beginning January 2009 and would completely eliminate the tax effective January 2010. The initiative petition was filed by former Libertarian candidate for governor Carla Howell and the Center for Small Government. The abolition of the state tax would eliminate 40 percent of the state budget and would result in cuts and services that far exceed that amount, say opponents.
The event was organized by an MCLA group, Students Against Question 1. According to member Amey Blackburn, who was moderator for the forum, "We are deeply concerned about the impact of the budget cuts that would result from the passage of Question 1."
"Sure, as college students we are worried about the impact of the cuts upon higher education, but we care about other services as well," she said. "Police and fire departments, public school systems, roads and bridges, and services for abused kids — what will be left of any of them if this question passes?"
Pignatelli said since Barack Obama will clearly carry Massachusetts, Question 1 is the single biggest issue on the ballot this November.
Gov. Deval Patrick has already been forced to make $1.4 billion in cuts to state services based on the slumping national and state economies. The governor has said he has not been cutting the supposed "fat" in the $28 billion budget, but has already had to dig into the "muscle" of state-funded programs. Pignatelli argued that if passed, Question 1 would "devastate and decimate" the state budget, MCLA (among other state education institutions) and all state services.
The sales tax would have to be raised to 20 percent to cover the revenue loss and that isn't about to happen, he said. Pignatelli challenged the proponents of the proposal to find the 40 percent of waste they say is in the state budget. He also argued that the real cuts would be closer to 70 percent because certain costs are fixed and can't be touched.
He said that unlike the opposition's claims, the average taxpayer will not see a $3,700 increase in their pockets because the average taxpayer does not currently pay that much in state taxes. The more realistic figure for families earning under $50,000 will be $700 to $800 and for families earning under $25,000, it will be closer to $150 to $200, he said.
In the State House, Pignatelli continued, this is not a partisan issue. Both Democratic and Republican leaders oppose it. While in theory the Legislature could repeal Question 1, as it can repeal any piece of legislation, many note it would be "political suicide" for legislators to go against the wishes of their constituents, he said.
Pignatelli expressed concern for seniors who generally do not pay state income taxes because of the nature of their income, but who will be particularly hard hit when their property taxes increase dramatically to make up for the loss in state funds. He fears it will take at least one generation for the state to recover from the damage that would be inflicted by the question and urged people to "vote with your head, not your pocketbook."
In a prepared statement, read by Blackmer, Mayor John Barrett III, asserted that the results of Question 1 in North Adams would be devastation "with a capital D." He referenced a recently released report by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation that calculated the impact on North Adams would be a $4.1 million cut to the city in noneducation aid and an estimated additional loss of $2.2 million for the school system.
Even if the city raised property taxes to the legal limit allowed by Proposition 2 1/2, it would still have to cut the budget by $5 million annually.
"This would mean the complete elimination of the Police and Fire departments as well as the Department of Public Services, and the closing of two schools with class size averaging over 30 students in our elementary schools," the mayor wrote. "Also negatively impacted will be veterans' benefits, property tax exemptions for the elderly, library funding as well as after school programs and the drug task force."
Barrett also argued that new sources of revenue would have to be found including increasing the sales tax and expanding items that are taxable. According to him, "The worst news of all is there would be a dramatic increase in property tax, which is the most regressive tax of all."
Barrett concluded his statement by noting that mayors, city councils and school committees across Massachusetts are urging voters to defeat this question. "With the nation's economy in recession, we can ill afford to put our communities at further risk by passing a bad law."
Marden claimed that Question 1 is "a dumb financial decision." He asserted that the only way to recuperate the lost revenue at the local level would be to increase the property tax and that people would see their property taxes double, perhaps even triple. This would more than exceed the supposed "savings" the average taxpayer in North Adams would accrue from the elimination of the state income tax and it would create "chaos" in the process, he said.
Alcombright read a sample of recent headlines from the local newspapers that emphasized the serious effect of pre-Question 1 budget cuts that Patrick has already been forced to make.
In addition to increases in property taxes, Alcombright said people are going to experience a dramatic increase in state and local fees. There is currently no sewer fee or fire district fee in North Adams, but there will have to be if Question 1 passes. Not only will public services be cut and class sizes increase, but we will experience, he said, "serious deterioration of infrastructure, like roads and bridges" as well.
According to the councilor, "the biggest problem with Question 1 is timing." Because people are already hurting financially, they might not be able to resist the temptation of the claimed "$3,700 in savings." He urged people to "remember that you get what you pay for. At the end of the day we want to be safe and secure in a community with good schools."
Canavan listed the numerous meetings of various agencies he had attended in the past 24 hours alone.
"All provide services that improve the quality of life in our area and all will disappear if Question 1 passes," he said. New Hampshire has no state income tax, it also has the second or third highest property taxes in the nation, he said, and provides virtually no social or health services.
Noting that we live in a "commonwealth," he argued that this proposition asks, "people to turn their backs on their neighbors. While there are sound fiscal reasons to oppose it, there are also good moral reasons to do so." The Northern Berkshire United Way provided $696,000 in funding to 23 agencies this year and there is no way it could possibly make up for the difference in lost state funding if Question 1 were to pass.
Its passage would also have a ripple effect extending far beyond public services, said Canavan.
He argued that if citizens really were interested in making the state income tax more fair, they vote to should "graduate" it (so that people pay tax at varying rates depending upon their income). He also noted that because state taxes are deductible from federal taxes, if Question 1 passes and there is no longer a state income tax, many people's federal tax bill will go up.
Stakenas said almost half of the college's operating budget comes from the state and that the alternate source of funding would have to be student fees. He personally urged all there to vote no and said the board of trustees unanimously voted to endorse a no vote on Question 1 at its meeting on Thursday, Oct. 16. The vote followed a presentation by Students Against Question 1 that concluded with a request the board vote to oppose the question.
Caproni, the mayor and all of the city's union leaders agree that passage of this question would devastate the city. Caproni argued that spending money is not a bad thing. State expenditures provide high-quality state parks, state roads and, very importantly, public schools. "We get a lot for our state income tax."
Susan Birns has been a tax justice activist in Berkshire County for 20 years and teaches in the sociology department at MCLA.
