Keller @ Large

Group Aims To Kill Proposition 2 1/2

Petition One Would Tighten Tax Cap

BOSTON (WBZ) ― There's a new campaign in the works to change the way we pay our taxes in Massachusetts.

Its goal is to get rid of Proposition 2 1/2.

There have been many attempts to lift the cap on property tax hikes. But this isn't yet another attempt to water down Prop 2 1/2.

It's an effort to make the tax cap even tighter.

Here's the deal: The so-called Petition One would cap property tax growth at 1 percent a year unless voters opt for more. Estimated drain on local tax revenues: $1 billion over the next five years.

And that's not all. Petition One would also repeal the much-despised local excise tax on your car, truck or trailer. You know how much you pay. That's another $700 million transferred from them back to you.

Can tax cuts this severe actually pass? You bet they can. Voters here almost repealed the state income tax outright five years ago, and Prop 2 1/2 overrides have been failing at a prodigious rate.

Plus, WBZ News has learned that multi-millionaire Christy Mihos, who ran for governor last year, is pumping thousands into the Petition One drive, enhancing their chances of getting the signatures they need to make next November's ballot.

What'll this do to local budgets if it passes? The head of the Massachusetts Mayor's Association told me tonight it would "create catastrophe" in a state where several cities and towns are already verging on bankruptcy.

But you know what? At a time when property values are going down but property taxes for most homeowners are going up, many taxpayers see catastrophe as well.

Heads up, Massachusetts political establishment: Petition One is a freight train headed straight at you, and you don't have much time to find and apply the brakes.

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