Boston City Council Hears from Chief Financial Officer and Citizens on Statewide Ballot Question 1

BOSTON/Government Center - Boston would lose approximately $300 million if Question number 1 known as the “Small Government Act to End the Income Tax ” were to pass this election day. That’s according to the city’s Director of Administration and Finance Lisa Signori. Speaking to the City Council this week Ms. Signori who serves as the city’s Chief Financial Officer told council members that the loss of state tax revenue might mean job cuts effecting as many as 5 000 city workers. “It’s 16 percent of total appropriations nearly 13 percent of the total budget ” Signori explained “and if you just do ‘back of the envelope math ’ not that this is how it would manifest itself in reductions but $300 million divided by an average salary plus benefits of $60 000…that’s roughly 5 000 employees. It would cause very deep cuts.” The thirteen Councilors and Mayor Tom Menino all have expressed opposition to Question 1. A coalition of labor unions and non-profit organizations have been fighting the measure through TV and print advertising and grassroots organizing. According to the Boston Globe the Coalition for our Communities has spent more than $3.5 million through the middle of October. On November 4th voters will be asked to consider cutting the state income tax by half in 2009 and eliminating it altogether in 2010. Libertarian Carla Howell Chair of the Committee for Small Government which sponsored the ballot question argues there is too much waste in state government. Writing on behalf of the referendum on the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s website the long time anti-tax activist says “Your 'Yes' vote will create hundreds of thousands of new Massachusetts jobs. Your 'Yes' vote will NOT raise your property taxes NOR any other taxes. Your 'Yes' vote will NOT cut NOR require cuts of any essential government services.” The dispute over what constitutes “essential services” seems to lie at the heart of the debate over state government. City Budget Director Lisa Signori – who has earned a reputation for making decisions based on financial data and computer modeling rather than political expediency – told the City Council on Tuesday that “we would not be in a position to be able to not impact public safety and to not impact public schools because police fire and schools represent roughly 52 percent of our budget and so that is something that would impact us in a very critical way.” Following Signori’s presentation City Councilors Sam Yoon Chuck Turner and Stephen Murphy Chair of the Ways and Means Committee heard testimony from residents and representatives of a number of interest groups concerned about Question 1. Calling the elimination of the state income tax a “preposterous idea ” Greater Boston Labor Council Executive Secretary Richard Rogers said “it’s a reckless idea. It’s being promoted by a small group of extremists so-called libertarians who don’t believe in government.” “No one can live on a budget stripped of forty percent of its resources ” he added. Richard Paris Vice President of the Boston Firefighters Union Local 718 predicted that response times of firefighters and emergency medical personnel could increase from three to five minutes to seven to ten minutes if neighborhood fire stations are forced to close. Question 1 proponents say taxpayers and workers deserve to get back the nearly $4 000 they would keep annually on average if the income tax is eliminated. Fed up with what they call government waste advocates for eliminating the state income tax say elected officials should learn to live within much smaller budgets. But Kalila Barnett a senior organizer with the non-profit Community Labor United told city councilors that the outcome of a repealed income tax would be “undemocratic.” “Unfortunately the fastest growing jobs in our society right now are low wage jobs. And the folks who are working those jobs and their families can ill afford an increase in property taxes and in sales taxes because as we know...sales taxes do affect the poor more than they do the wealthy.” Regardless of voter’s decisions the state may have to get used to austerity budgets for the foreseeable future. Reacting earlier this month to the stock market crash and predictions of a severe slowdown in overall tax revenues Governor Deval Patrick called for 1 billion dollars in budget cuts. Addressing the potential for cuts in Boston’s budget City Councilor Maureen Feeney noted that a number of strategies may be employed including using the city’s reserve fund imposing a hiring freeze and negotiating favorable contracts with city vendors. Saying there were “no sacred cows ” Feeney added that “at a time of cuts we need to try and maintain some municipal structure that generates confidence in the city.” Tax reform advocates - liberals libertarians and conservatives alike – are watching closely what happens in Massachusetts on November 4th. Recent polls indicate a majority of MA residents will vote against Question 1. However polling failed to predict how close the numbers would be when anti-tax activists first sponsored this ballot question in 2002. AUDIO FEATURE: highlights from City Council Hearing on Question 1 Speakers in order: Councilor Stephen Murphy City Director of Administration & Finance Lisa Signori Councilor Chuck Turner Richard Rogers Executive Secretary Greater Boston Labor Council Kalila Barnett Senior organizer Community Labor United Web Resources: http://www.smallgovernmentact.org/joomla/ http://massclu.org/ http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ELE/ele08/ballot_questions_08/quest_1.htm Bookmark/Search this post with: Delicious Digg StumbleUpon Reddit Newsvine Facebook Google Yahoo Technorati