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Mass. Rejects Elimination Of State Income Tax

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Nov 4, 2008 8:49 pm US/Eastern

Mass. Rejects Elimination Of State Income Tax

Read: Local Election Results
Read: National Election Results
Blog: Jon Keller's Political Blog

By Steve LeBlanc, AP Writer
BOSTON (AP) ―

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Massachusetts voters have rejected a call to eliminate the state's income tax.

The measure would have cut the 5.3 percent tax rate in half in January, and then killed it completely in January 2010.

Supporters argued the best way to cut government waste and overspending was to cut tax revenues by 40 percent or about $12.5 billion.

They said it would have saved the average taxpayer about $3,700.

But critics, including virtually every elected officials in the state, said the cuts would cripple state services, drive up property taxes, harm the state's credit rating and scare away business.

Gov. Deval Patrick and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate never said how they would have dealt with the loss of revenue.

Lawmakers would have had the option of repealing or amending the measure.