Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, told me he had been expecting cuts in the range of 5 to 10 percent in fiscal 2010, which starts next July. He said those cuts are not likely to be shared equally, since some agencies cannot reduce spending dramatically. The Department of Corrections, for example, cannot just shut down prisons and release inmates.

Last year, the state's transportation finance commission recommended a gas tax increase of 11.5 cents per gallon to adjust for inflation and increases of about a penny a year to keep pace going forward. Add another 4 cents per gallon and tolls would stay where they are today, according to Mike Widmer, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation chief who was on the commission.

WIDMER: We can't pay for health care indefinitely when we're seeing 10 percent growth each year. That's simply not sustainable. So as successful as we've been here in Massachusetts, on the long term success, the jury is still out.

Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, the business-backed group that has been critical of Patrick's financing techniques, called Cohen's remarks last week "the first time I've heard them acknowledge that." "It's a good thing they're understanding it, but then it brings to the surface the reality that we have no money to pay for the project - beyond pl

Michael J. Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation in Boston, said the governor's plan to eliminate the turnpike authority is full of holes. Widmer said the state Highway Department is stretched thin now trying to maintain roads. "They don't have either the money or the resources to manage the western turnpike," Widmer said.

Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said that while it is appropriate to give stipends to elected board members while they are in office, benefits should end when they leave.

While Linsky said he hopes to pass the gas tax instead of hiking tolls, Michael Widmer, who served on the Transportation Finance Committee and is of the business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said both will be needed to patch the state's crumbling roads and bridges.

"The Massachusetts Highway department is already overwhelmed with responsibilities in a managerial sense and a fiscal sense. Now, with no additional money, we're going to give them more responsibilities, which could easily make things worse," said Michael Widmer, head of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.

Incentive programs aren't as effective as additional advertising, argued fiscal expert Michael Widmer. "The recession has clearly had an impact on betting, but additional advertising is clearly the way to sell more," Widmer said.

According to the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, personal income tax accounts for 60 percent of total state tax revenues and 40 percent of total state spending.

Michael Widmer, executive director of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, put state leaders on notice. "If there's one thing I heard ... it was the enormous frustration that voters have with government," he said. "I certainly hope that leaders heard that message too. It's absolutely critical for the governor and Legislature to take the lead in reforming government.

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a business-backed, nonprofit research group, concluded Question 1 would require a 71 percent budget cut in almost all state programs. That excludes legally required state spending in such areas as debt service and minimum school funding.

As the business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation pointed out, about $13 billion of the state budget is not discretionary but required by federal law, the constitution, or court order. Finding $12 billion to cut in the rest of the budget would have had a devastating impact on human services, higher education, and the aid the state provides to towns and cities.

Michael Widmer, of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, saw the measure as "fool's gold" and called it "a battle between emotion on the one hand and reason and facts on the other."

Michael Widmer of the business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, which also fought the question, called the decisive vote against the measure a "terrific result." "There was enough public education so voters could resist the superficial lure of a tax cut and realize in the end it would result in dramatic cuts across state government but especially in aid to cities and town

Issue: Question 1, which would eliminate the state income tax. Analysis: Income taxes account for 40 percent of Massachusetts' budget, so, if this measure passes, it will have a massive impact on government in the state.

"Even though this is bad news, we have only just begun," said Brian P. Murphy '86-'87, the vice mayor of the City of Cambridge. He said that the income generated by the capital gains tax is expected to be reduced by at least $750 million in the fiscal year of 2009, citing the data presented at the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.

"Here we are in a fiscal crisis, and we're going to remove $12.5 billion from the state budget," said Michael J. Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, in a video statement on the Boston Globe's Web site. The Massachusetts measure would repeal the income tax, which accounts for 40% of the state's revenues, starting in 2010.

Michael Widmer, Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation "Clearly this is the moment to look at issues like this - lights on in courts all night."

There are also three statewide ballot questions, the most controversial of which would eliminate the state income tax, which provides 40 percent of the state budget.

While the worldwide economic crisis has stoked the Massachusetts malaise, the deficit comes as no great shock. Back in July, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation warned that the budget was at least $1 billion out of whack.

"It's absurd," said Michael Widmer of the business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. "We're in the middle of a fiscal crisis now. This is a one or two billion dollar problem we're facing and she's saying cut $12.5 billion."

Passage of Question 1 would eliminate 40 percent of the Commonwealth's budget. That's $12.5 out of $30 billion in state spending. According to the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, the Commonwealth would then have only $5 billion available for discretionary budget spending.

"We can afford the tax credits because it is critical that we build this sector," said Mike Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. "We can't mortgage our future."

Michael Widmer, executive director of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said the Legislature did not do much yesterday to help the state's bottom line. "There are no real cuts to address the revenue shortfall," he said. "The Legislature's doing most of what the governor asked, but it doesn't really help address the revenue shortfall on an ongoing basis."

The joint School Committee and City Council letter says the state's budget would be cut by $12 billion, should personal income tax be eliminated. The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation estimated that would translate into across the board budgetary cuts of 71.1 percent.

"There is a greater awareness now than in 2002 that it would have serious consequences," said Michael J. Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a business-sponsored watchdog group that opposes the measure. "I'm heartened by the polls, but I'm operating as if it's as close as I feared it would be."

Jacobi said she has seen Widmer's 70-year-old organization, in her view, unfairly maligned during the debate over Question 1, noting that the MTF is non-partisan and has won numerous awards for its "unbiased" studies of how to use tax dollars most effectively. "They tend to be very conservative," Jacobi said.

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation again takes issue with the figures and says for the 65 percent of the state's taxpayers who earn under $50,000, the average state income tax payment is $850, total. So it's hard to see how the majority of state taxpayers would save more than they currently pay in total income tax.

The MTF's Widmer argues that there are undeniable conclusions in his foundation's 28-page analysis.

On the forefront of this issue is Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. Widmer concludes that if passed, the repeal of the state income taxes would be a blow to the Massachusetts economy.

"It's an absurd number," said Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a business-backed budget research group. "That's pulled out of the air. The public may think there's 41 percent waste, but that has nothing to do with the facts."

Income tax is a progressive tax, meaning those who make more money and can afford to pay more do so. That is the way civilized government works. According to the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, under Question 1, the average resident making around $50,000 a year would see just over $1,000 a year in savings.

According to the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation (MTF), a nationally recognized, nonprofit research organization working to promote the most effective use of state tax dollars, high-income taxpayers would gain most of the benefit from repealing the personal income tax, while those earning $50,000 a year or less would gain very little.

People making less than the state's average income of $50,500, who comprise more than 65 percent of Massachusetts tax filers, would save less than half that amount, according to the nonpartisan Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. Those earning more than $100,000 annually would get the most back, about an average of $16,300. The inequity is stunning.

Last week, a report commissioned by Associated Industries of Massachusetts, Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, Massachusetts Business Roundtable, and the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation reached similar conclusions, saying the measure "goes too far."

State officials expected to gain $1.7 billion in capital gains taxes upon approving the budget in July. The Patrick administration has since cut $400 million from that estimate for capital gains, and Michael J. Widmer of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation said capital gains could drop an additional $400 million to $500 million beyond that.

Michael Widmer of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation says the goals of the program are admirable, but the money just isn't there.

"We don't have the dollars to do it," said Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. "It's not that we don't believe in the virtue. We don't have the money."

"It just doesn't pass the straight-face test," said Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. "Obviously, they shouldn't be paying any time. But it's particularly egregious given incredible fiscal pressures the state's facing and cities and towns are facing."

But opponents, such as the Massachusetts League of Women Voters or the Massachusetts Taxpayer Foundation, say it will lead to chaos. "To say the least it would have a dramatic effect on services," said Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.

In a prepared statement, read by Blackmer, Mayor John Barrett III, asserted that the results of Question 1 in North Adams would be devastation "with a capital D." He referenced a recently released report by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation that calculated the impact on North Adams would be a $4.1 million cut to the city in noneducation aid and an estimated additional loss of $2.2 m

Even on face value, eliminating revenues that account for 40 percent of the state's $32 billion budget sounds like a radical notion. But because more than $12 billion of that budget is required to pay for pensions, Medicare debt service and other obligations, the budget cuts would be closer to 70 percent, according to a recent study by the independent Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.

"If this passed, this would expose Massachusetts to almost immediate downgrading of credit and dry up access to funds," said Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, which helped fund the study. "It would have a domino effect that would have drastic impacts for public and private financing in the Commonwealth."

Many economic analysts - including the business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation - have concluded that Question 1 would decimate important state and local services while prompting an increase in property taxes.

Widmer's report, "The Enormous Consequences of Question 1," warns of 71 percent across-the-board budget cuts if Question 1 passes. When asked whether eliminating the income tax would create new job growth and revenue opportunities, Widmer said it would not. He said projections that eliminating the income tax would stimulate job creation are "absurd."

According to a recently released report, "The Enormous Consequences of Question 1," published by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, the $12.5 billion in personal income taxes represents 60 percent of total tax revenues and 40 percent of the $31.8 billion in state spending.

"In one sense, it's small potatoes," said Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. "But it's just more bad news. "It's another example of how state revenues are getting hit on every front," he said.

Citing information from a Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation report, Phalan told the School Committee that the state stands to lose 40 percent of its annual revenue; however, service cuts, including aid to cities and towns, would be higher than 70 percent due to five programs that the state is legally mandated to fund.

The potential savings is enormous. Last year the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation issued a report based on projected health care increases in GIC compared to the average local health plan. The study found if all cities and towns joined the GIC, they could save between $436 million and $764 million in fiscal 2013 and between $1.4 billion and $2.5 billion in fiscal 2018.

A very large portion of the Commonwealth's budget that relates to state spending is rooted in our state constitution, federal requirements or through legal obligations.

During the 2008 fiscal year, the state collected $1.9 billion in capital gains taxes, but by the spring it was already clear that the level of collections couldn't last, according to Michael Widmer, president of the business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.

The state's Constitution, federal law and other obligations prohibit cuts in $12.5 billion in state spending - including aid to public schools, interest on the state's debt and part of Medicaid. This means to make ends meet, the remaining $19.5 billion in annual spending would have to be slashed by 70 percent.

In its motion, the 11-member board cited a Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation report that estimated a $12.5 billion loss in annual revenue if the income tax were repealed. On Nov. 4, voters will consider a ballot question to abolish the tax.

Widmer outlined a what he called a "havoc and chaos" scenario in Massachusetts if Question 1 passes. Eliminating the income tax and the $12.5 billion it generates will result in cuts of more than 70 percent to most state-run programs, such as prisons and courts, human services, transportation, parks, colleges and universities, and state employees' pension and health care benefits.

"This is fool's gold," said Michael Widmer of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. "This is a battle between emotion on the one hand and reason and facts on the other."

Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said now is the time to talk about long term reforms to the state's pension system as well as making it easier for cities and towns to join the state's Group Insurance Commission by removing requirement that it be collectively bargained with unions.

Michael Widmer of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation said the new holiday sends the wrong message in a struggling economy. "Cities and towns will almost certainly see cuts in state aid and they need to reduce expenditures, not add new benefits," he said.

"The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation calculates that if the state income tax is repealed, it would result in a reduction of $12.5 billion a year in revenue for the state - about 40 percent of its overall revenue," said Higgins.

According to the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation (MTF), an independent, non-partisan research organization, "Passage of Question 1 would have a profound impact on citizens of the Commonwealth and the broad range of services provided by state government."

"This is fool's gold," said Michael Widmer of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. "This is a battle between emotion on the one hand and reason and facts on the other.

Yesterday, after testifying on Beacon Hill about budget cuts after the Wall Street disaster, tax watchdog Michael Widmer said he thinks this fiscal mess is a perfect "opportunity for real reform," particularly of major budget-busters such as pension and health care costs. They account for a whopping 70 percent of local budgets, he said.

Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said Peabody is sending the wrong message in this nightmarish economy. "Cities and towns will almost certainly see cuts in state aid and they need to reduce expenditures, not add new benefits," Widmer said.