Municipal

Michael Widmer, director of the Massachusetts Taxpayer Association and a Question 1 opponent, said ballot questions give too much power to special interest groups. Because voters vote with a simple yes or no, ballot questions often oversimplify issues and leave no room for compromise, Widmer said.

Health insurance costs for city and town employees increased 63 percent between 2001 through 2005, according to a 2005 survey by the Massachusetts Municipal Association and the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. The figure was nearly double the state's annual increase in health costs.

MA Taxpayers Foundation's Michael Widmer says people need to learn how to deal with the upcoming round of cuts, wherever they hit, because it's not the last time we're going to hear it.