In The News

"The spending is only going to get worse, not better, in terms of the underfunding,'' said Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. "The caseloads, the pressure's obviously only growing, not lessening.''

MASSACHUSETTS CITIES and towns need to get a firmer grip on their costs. Candidates for the Legislature can help by endorsing a slate of reforms proposed by the Massachusetts Taxpayers' Foundation: clear, simple ways to curb excesses in municipal pensions and health care, thereby saving enough money to withstand flat property-tax revenues and cuts in state aid.

The nonpartisan Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation opposes the sales-tax cut measure, citing "dramatic consequences" to the state budget.

The Massachusetts Municipal Association, which represents cities and towns, and the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation said they will try to put the issue to a popular vote if the Legislature fails to act next year, but it shouldn't come to that.

Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, was skeptical of the monthly-holiday proposal when I first mentioned it to him. He said the Department of Revenue estimates that last weekend's spree will cost Massachusetts about $20 million in lost taxes and that if it were extended to once a month it could cost an already strapped state $250 million.

"The meals tax has shown itself to be an important source of revenue,'' said Michael Widmer, executive director of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a nonprofit that monitors state finances. "I think we'll see more communities look to adopt it. . . . It's largely painless for the taxpayers.''

"It's a huge issue," said Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. "The benefit is enormously rich and very difficult to change." It isn't just rising premiums that are making it harder for cities and towns; the economy, joblessness and the deterioration of private employers' health care plans play a role, as well.

The Foundation won the GRA's 2010 award for Outstanding Policy Achievement for its vital role in passage of transportation reform. The Foundation was recognized for its efforts beginning in 2004 and culminating in last year's reform legislation, which created a much stronger and cohesive Department of Transportation and generated savings of tens of millions of dollars each year through changes in MBTA health benefits and other efficiencies.

The sales tax was hiked from 5 percent to 6.25 percent last year to raise about $900 million to help balance the state budget. Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said dropping the sales tax to 3 percent would devastate police, fire and school funding.

Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a nonpartisan research group, says UMass's role as a catalyst is often overlooked, but its research and graduates, most of whom stay in the state, create "a very powerful combination'' for the state's economy. "One of the keys,'' he added, "is they've recognized that they have to master their own future, and steer their own course.''