Taxes

Spooky acts by Citizens for Limited Taxation

by Seth Gitell

This past Halloween may have meant fun and games for children, but to Citizens for Limited Taxation (CLT) it was another opportunity to raise hell over taxes.

CLT, which is largely credited with the passage of Proposition 2¹/2 in the Commonwealth almost two decades ago, is pushing for a rollback of the state income tax to 5 percent. A similar attempt in 1990 failed, and now, with the help of high-profile Republicans including Governor Paul Cellucci, the group wants to get the rollback question on the ballot for the 2000 election. CLT activists headed out over the Halloween weekend to 14 shopping malls across the state, collecting signatures as part of their "taxes or treat" campaign.

The goal, according to a CLT press release, "is to submit at least 100,000 `raw' signatures to the city and town halls on the November 17th deadline . . . to avoid a challenge from the goblins in the Massachusetts Teachers Association and the Tax Equity Alliance of [sic] Massachusetts."

Being characterized as "goblins" drew the ire of both groups singled out by CLT.

"It's appropriate that CLT is collecting signatures on Halloween, because their petition is truly frightening. If it passes, the real trick will be on the public-school kids across the state, who will have fewer and fewer treats to look forward to when they go to school," says Stephen Gorrie, the president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association. "This ballot question would put a stake through the heart of plans for smaller classes, alternative programs for disruptive students, safer and more-modern buildings, and mentoring programs for new teachers. So who are the real goblins here?"

A TEAM policy analyst, Sarah Nolan, quips that a better analogy might be the Wizard of Oz. Says Nolan: "There's nothing behind the curtain here. The Taxachusetts image is rather outdated, and nobody seems to be crying out for this tax cut except for the people trying to put it on the ballot."