Less Is Less – Vote No on Question 1 2


It is extremely important that we vote no on the ballot question 1 in the November election.  Why?  Because it is a terrible proposal based on narrow thinking.


Here is a summary taken from the website of the office of William Francis Galvin, Secretary of Commonwealth.


SUMMARY
This proposed law would reduce the state personal income tax rate to 2.65% for all categories of taxable income for the tax year beginning on or after January 1, 2009, and would eliminate the tax for all tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2010. The personal income tax applies to income received or gain realized by individuals and married couples, by estates of deceased persons, by certain trustees and other fiduciaries, by persons who are partners in and receive income from partnerships, by corporate trusts, and by persons who receive income as shareholders of “S corporations” as defined under federal tax law. The proposed law would not affect the tax due on income or gain realized in a tax year beginning before January 1, 2009. The proposed law states that if any of its parts were declared invalid, the other parts would stay in effect.

A YES VOTE would reduce the state personal income tax rate to 2.65% for the tax year beginning on January 1, 2009, and would eliminate the tax for all tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2010.
A NO VOTE would make no change in state income tax laws.

A NO VOTE is important because we would get less in the way of services if this ballot question is passed. If we want to pay less, we must expect to get less in terms of all the services the state provides.  Less = Less.


I benefit from the schools in Massachusetts (some of the best in the country), the municipal services, the snow-plowing, the police (we have a fairly low crime rate).  I don’t feel that the taxes I pay as a homeowner are too much for the services I get in return.  Ever been to low or a no tax state like Mississippi or Florida and experienced the serious dearth of services they have?  It’s nothin’ nice.


A NO VOTE is important because it will keep jobs from being eliminated.  I need my fellow citizens to stay employed.  We don’t need state jobs eliminated.  If anything, we actually need more services and more employment in the government sector. 


The state’s services are so omnipresent that many of us have come to take them for granted and almost assume they happen by magic and not by the efforts of a broad swath of people across the Commonwealth fueled by what I feel are reasonable taxes.  A YES vote will save the average taxpayer about $3,600 a year.   This sum is small compared to what we get.


It is also important to note that the annual revenue from the tax is about $12.5 billion, about 45 percent of the state’s budget of about $28 billion.  This is an amount that cannot be regained especially in today’s tough economic climate.


Vote NO on Question 1 because less is less, you get what you pay for and what you don’t pay for you don’t get.  This ballot question is makes no sense for the Commonwealth.


 


 


About Candelaria Silva

Candelaria Silva-Collins is a marketing, community outreach and programming consultant; writer; and trainer/facilitator who lives in Boston, Massachusetts. She has designed and facilitated workshops on a wide variety of topics including communication, facilitation, job search skills, team building, and parenting issues. She currently coordinates the Community Membership Program of the Huntington Theatre Company. Her work as Director of ACT Roxbury was profiled in several publications, including The Creative Communities Builders Handbook. Candelaria’s children’s stories, short stories, essays and reviews have been published in local and national publications and she is an active blogger. Her publications include the booklets, Handling Rejection; Pushing through Shyness: Networking Tips when You’re Shy, Slow to Warm Up or Just don’t Feel you Belong; and Real Questions about Sex & Relationships for Teens: A Discussion Guide for Parents. She has served on the boards of Goddard College, Wheelock Family Theatre, Boston Foundation for Architecture, and Discover Roxbury. She is currently Chair, Designators of the Henderson Foundation.

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2 thoughts on “Less Is Less – Vote No on Question 1

  • Gregory Dunham

    I miss Boston in the Fall. I miss my old friends. I have many new ones, but they do not remember anything about in-town vs the hill. and I miss that

    Great Blog

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