Christy Mihos on Tax Reform

Get money out of Beacon Hill and back to cities & towns

MIHOS: Well it's not local property taxes, it's local property assessments for residences and businesses. Look, under the Republican's administration, they've been in charge for 16 years, the Democrats have been in power forever. Massachusetts has become unaffordable. We have to do it, we have to get the money back out of Beacon Hill, back to the cities and towns and it can be done. We've run billion plus dollar surpluses in revenue over the last three years. This money is sitting up there on Beacon Hill. They're giving it to the Turnpike Authority, $31 million to start the Rose Kennedy Greenway up again with your money, they're giving it to the Red Sox and their corporate neighbors to upgrade the infrastructure up around Fenway Park. That's your money, that's money that should be going back to the cities and towns, not to the special interests.

Roll back taxes but restore local aid

MIHOS: I'm for it. The people voted overwhelmingly for it. I'll work the legislature to get it done over time, certainly. Statutorily it's being done as we sit here, but this administration has taken local aid away from this cities and towns. They're starving. They've taken well over $2 billion in local aid away from the cities and towns so the property taxes have gone up.

Cap property tax; increase local aid

Proposition One.
• Will dedicate 40% ($1.1 billion in FY2006) of state tax revenues for local aid. Currently only 28% of these revenues are given back to our communities for schools, public safety, and other local services.
• Will cap property values from the time of purchase until the property is sold, thus providing more certainty to homeowners, who will not experience unpredictable increases in property taxes due to reassessment.
• Will remove all sport & activity fees from public schools. Source: Campaign website, www.christy2006.com Jul 16, 2006

  Roll back state income tax from 5.3% to 5%

  While Christy favors a rollback of the state income tax from 5.3% to 5%, his top priority is returning local aid to cities and towns under Proposition One to fund their education, public safety and public works needs. Cities and towns would receive $1.1 billion if Proposition One were enacted in FY 2006. Christy will index all deductions on the Massachusetts state tax form in order to ensure that Massachusetts taxpayers are not penalized by its failure to account for inflation. Source: Campaign website, www.christy2006.com Jul 16, 2006

  Set aside 40% of state revenue for local aid

  Mihos would set aside 40 percent of state revenue for local aid; and he would freeze property values for existing homeowners, reevaluating houses only when they are sold. That would bring "some type of certainty to a real estate tax bill and allow people to stay in their homes," he said. Source: Boston Globe Issue Outlines: Taxes Jun 3, 2006

  Constant property taxes until property is sold

  Stabilize Property Taxes: Under Proposition 1, property values would remain constant from the time of purchase until the property is sold. Thus, the system will provide more certainty to homeowners since they will not face any overwhelming jumps in property taxes from reassessment. Source: Campaign website, www.christy2006.com, "Proposition 1" Jun 2, 2006

  Cut the income tax to five percent

  What would a Mihos administration look like? [Turnpike reform] and later, cut the income tax to five percent. With its synthesis of cultural and economic populism and its promise of Big Dig accountability--something that's been all too absent in the last decade-- it's an agenda that could have widespread appeal. Source: Adam Reilly in the Boston Phoenix Sep 22, 2005

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