Jun 26
Massachusetts Property Owners to Cover Higher Health Insurance
Yes, those who property in 50 Massachusetts towns may find their property taxes a little bit higher this year. Why? To cover the budget problems caused by the cost of high health insurance premiums, special education and other expenses.
Massachusetts has in place a law called Proposition 2 ½. This limits the yearly property tax increase to no more than 2.5 percent unless the voters approve.
The state’s 1980 Proposition 2 1/2 law limits annual increases in a community’s tax levy to 2.5 percent, requiring voter approval for property tax above that level. Local governments must deal with the growing demands for a wider range of increasingly expensive services and property owners unhappy with a growing tax burden — averaging $4,007 this fiscal year.
Some of the specific expenses that voters are asked to consider include $750,000 for the medical bills of an injured officer in Dartmouth and $5.2 million to save a library and the jobs of 18 teachers and four police officers in Saugus.
Of the 89 proposals for property tax hikes in 2006, 59 were rejected by voters. This year, at least 25 towns have scheduled votes for the approval of amounts that average just under $2 million. Another 25 towns are considering similar votes.
Why are these budget shortages occuring? It depends on who you ask. The finger of blame has pointed at everyone from Governor Deval Patrick to opposing legislators to the docile housing market.
The real question is: if towns are constantly being harassed into raising their taxes to cover the cost of health insurance coverage for local officials, isn’t that coverage just a little too high to begin with?
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September 13th, 2007 at 11:01 pm
Health insurance is critical. We all know what not having insurance could lead to. It has to be paid for in some way and until the broken system is fixed this is the only way to go.
Jerry