Governor’s rally for cities and towns
Today, Margaret and I joined Governor Patrick’s rally to build momentum around his Municipal Partnership Act (MPA). If supported by legislators, MPA will provide options to help cities reduce costs and gain funds. As activists for better schools who have seen how funding services on the backs of property owners does not work, we had to be there. We were joined at the State House by our own Mayor Bill Martin and hundreds of people from organizations such as the Mass. Assoc. of School Committees, Stand for Children, the Suburban Coalition, and the Mass. Public Health Assoc. (For a complete list of endorsements, see here.)
Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone, president of the Mass. Mayors’ Assoc., spoke at the rally, sending this message to legislators: “If you can’t provide more local aid, than give us the tools to shape our own fiscal destiny.” With that, he nailed the gist of the Act: providing options for cities to save money and raise revenue—beyond property taxes. MPA would eliminate a 92-year-old law that gives tax breaks to telecommunications companies, and make them pay their share just like any other business. Despite being the only state that has this tax exemption for phone companies, we have some of the highest rates in the country. Governor Patrick noted in his speech today that from 2003-2005 while property taxes rose all over the state, the phone companies’ tax bills went down by 46% and yet, the costs to consumers went up by 30%. (This change alone would bring about $800K to Lowell.) In addition, MPA allows for cities to adopt an optional sales tax of up to 2% on restaurant meals and 1% on hotel bills. For what amounts to a $1 charge on a $50 meal, it would bring about $2 million to Lowell. Our total meals tax rate of 7% would be the same or lower than New Hampshire (8%), Rhode Island, Vermont and many other states. Also, with MPA, cities could save money by joining the state’s Group Insurance Commission, where the state’s health insurance costs have risen at half the rate of municipal costs. (In Lowell, our health insurance went up 15% this year alone.). Low-performing pension plans would also switch to the state’s high-performing plan—one of the best in the country. As the governor noted, last year 90 communities went for overrides; this year, it is up to 60 so far. Some of us have seen our property taxes double in the last 10 years, and yet as a community, we continue to struggle to be able to fund essential services such as good schools, comprehensive police and fire departments, and infrastructure improvements that directly impact our quality of life. As the governor said today, “We’re not talking about breaking the bank. We’re talking about modernizing our revenue stream.” I’d say it’s about time cities and towns got some relief. 
Stand supporters: a swath of yellow in the crowd; Tim Murray speaks out for cities and towns.