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Paul
Senior Member
158 Posts |
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
 Posted - 01/24/2009 : 6:40:32 PM
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Why would local aid cuts in Everett raise property tax? I'm just wondering...Did we never get GIC?
Deval Patrick to slash local aid by $128M
Gov threatens cuts of $375M more in next year’s budget
Hillary Chabot By Hillary Chabot
Saturday, January 24, 2009 - Added 19h ago
Municipal and state officials are bracing for an upcoming budget bloodbath after Gov. Deval Patrick slashed $128 million in local aid yesterday and said he’d hack off another $375 million in next year’s budget.
Health and human service providers in particular are facing deep cuts when Patrick unveils his 2010 budget Wednesday.
“We’re calling it Bloody Wednesday because we know there will be hundreds of millions in cuts,” said Lew Finfer, executive director of Massachusetts Communities Action Network.
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Patrick did not detail how he will make up the rest of the $1 billion deficit in this year’s budget, but did propose an additional one percent statewide increase on hotel and meals taxes to raise $150 million.
“We have tough choices among miserable options,” Patrick said at a Massachusetts Municipal Association meeting yesterday. “My job is to make those choices, and I have.”
While he didn’t touch the $3.9 billion in state aid to schools, Patrick moved to cut local aid from cities and towns that don’t lower their health insurance costs to the rates of the Group Insurance Commission or lower.
“The point is blunt but necessary - we must all get on with the business of savings,” Patrick said.
“I’m a little disappointed about that,” said Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria, who said any local aid cuts could raise local property taxes. “You can’t keep taxing families because they just can’t afford it.”
Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino called the proposal “a start.”
“I have faith if we work together we’ll solve these problems . . . It’s not going to be easy,” he said.
Patrick also moved to:
file a bill to allow cities and towns to levy their own hotel and meals taxes.
lower the union approval to join the Group Insurance Commission from 70 percent to 50 percent.
Patrick said most of the $150 million raised from the additional meals and hotel tax would go toward local aid cuts, but said an undisclosed portion would go to market tourism in the Bay State.
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"blatantly, gone are the days" |
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tetris
Moderator
2040 Posts |
Posted - 01/24/2009 : 8:00:49 PM
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Tails,
I don't believe that the Mayor's quote referred to this year. Without making enough cuts to the budget to make up for cuts in state aid in future years, the only way to raise the money required for the tax levy will be to raise property taxes.
And, as far as I know, the city has not joined the GIC or switched to a comparable plan. Once I found out that it takes a 70%union approval, I knew it would be unlikely to happen. I have doubts that 50% will do it either. Only the threat of further cuts to local aid if the city does nothing about the issue would seem to have the clout that might move the unions to approve it. |
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
Posted - 01/24/2009 : 8:07:40 PM
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Well, just my opinion, but we all have to make sacrifices including unions. Would they rather people loose jobs over not compromising? FY/10 is going to be huge cuts but FY/11 they are already predicting will be worse. They should switch to GIC and I thought that was why Jim Henderson stayed on. Was I wrong?
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tetris
Moderator
2040 Posts |
Posted - 01/24/2009 : 8:15:47 PM
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| Mr. Henderson told us that why he wanted to stay on. But the deadline was October 1 (by the old rules anyways) and we know that he stayed on longer than that. Why? No idea. |
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
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STATE CUTS--WOW!
