Is Massachusetts About to Take a Permanent Tax Holiday?
There is no worse feeling than filing your taxes and seeing how much of your income has gone to the state. Thousands of dollars you could have used for myriad other purposes disappear into the state coffers, never to be seen again.
That money is supposed to do things like fix roads and bridges. But, there are only so many huge potholes you can hit before you start to wonder if it’s really worth it. The state government knows this, and is preparing to battle a referendum that would eliminate Massachusetts’ income tax.
In 2002, that state pooh-poohed a similar ballot measure, only to find that 45 percent of voters supported it (no kidding). Government officials don’t plan to make that mistake again, especially during an economic downturn.
“When people are being squeezed, when their energy costs are rising, gas costs are going up, food costs are going up, they’re going to say, ‘That’s a good idea. That would be good for me,’ ” [Senate President Therese] Murray said. “But when their child has no school to go to and they can’t get out their door to go to work because the street hasn’t been plowed in the winter, I think the public would be back here really quick saying, ‘Please, fix this.’ “
There’s a small part of us that kinds of hopes that it does pass this time around, if only to see the chaos that would ensue. Schools closing their doors. Drivers careening about recklessly without cops to keep them in line. Untrained citizens driving the T because employees walked out. It would be hilarious, at least until we break an axle in a particularly deep pothole.
May 12th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
I hope you’re just kidding. there is no part of me that would like to watch the chaos that would ensue if your family income was reduced by 30%.
May 12th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
“Thousands of dollars you could have used for myriad other purposes disappear into the state coffers, never to be seen again.”
This is joke, too, right? Every day I see how state taxes are used to make our community a good place to live. Today my son went to public school, I walked by a crew fixing a street, I took the T to work, and I learned a friend got health coverage for the first time in years.
This friend works hard for herself, but doesn’t make enough to afford coverage. Before, she used to use emergency rooms, and we all paid for this expensive care in our premiums. Now she has full primary care, and she pays about a third of the premium. The state and federal governments split the other two-thirds.
Everything has to be paid for, and we all benefit from our taxes going back to us, to help us all.
May 12th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Clearly Amy is being a bit tongue-in-cheek, but due to tax cuts that have already been occurring over the past twenty years, some Mass residents are already seeing that chaos… Towns have already lost their libraries and have had to cut down on teachers, police officers, and fire fighters.
We all need to take a long look at the types of communities we want, and how we want to pay for them.
And while not everything in this state is absolutely perfect, I value the public structures that bring us clean water and air, public transportation, disease control, and public safety, and I am willing to fight for my right to pay for them.