By Keith Regan, Contributing Writer
Northborough—Lawmakers hoping to provide some hope that the town’s top legislative priorities could finally see additional state funding instead received some strong pushback for backing a nascent ballot initiative that would raise the state income tax rate for people earning over $1 million a year.
The town’s two state senators, Harriet Chandler, D-Worcester, and Jamie Eldridge, D-Acton, expressed support for the so-called Millionaires Tax initiative, which requires amending the state’s Constitution. They said if approved by voters, the $2 billion that the new 4 percent tax would raise could help satisfy Northborough’s demands for more funding for education and road maintenance.
State Rep. Danielle Gregoire, D-Marlborough, who said she was “not in the same place as my colleagues” though said she has not yet taken a public stance on the proposal. State Rep. Harold Naughton, D-Clinton, did not attend the meeting.
“That would be a nice pot of money we never had before,” said Chandler, noting that voters rejected a planned gas tax increase that lawmakers tried to put in place to raise funds for road projects.
But Selectmen Chair Jeff Amberson blasted the proposal, which is now making its way through a lengthy legislative process on its way to the ballot box statewide in a future election.
“Do you really think it’s fair to go after one part of the population and stick it to them like that?” Amberson asked. “It seems to go against fairness.”
Eldridge responded that the issue of fairness can also be viewed as a matter of proportionality, noting that the bottom 20 percent of earners pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes overall.
“It’s not always about the tax rate, but about the tax burden,” he said.
Lawmakers could offer little reason for optimism that the state’s two top funding-related priorities would see movement in the near-term. The town is asking lawmakers to help free up additional Chapter 90 roadwork funds and to fully fund special education budgets.
But Chandler said it appears unlikely that the recommendations of a legislative panel to boost education funding to cities and towns will be funded in the budget for the next fiscal year now being crafted.
Gregoire sounded a more upbeat tone on the town’s third priority—seeking reform of the law that gives retired town employees access to lifetime health insurance coverage even if they only work part-time.
Town Administrator John Coderre said the current system puts the town in an impossible situation.
“There is no way we can fund our way out of it,” he told the lawmakers. “It requires reform and you are the only people who can do that.”