DRINK UP, America!
"MWRA expects to follow tax and toll trend with rate hikes; Cuts in state aid a factor in increase" by Milton J. Valencia, Globe Staff | December 12, 2008
First taxes, then tolls and user fees - and now water and sewer rates, too.
Following a steady trend, water and sewer rates for customers in the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority's service area are expected to climb again as the agency faces costs of maintaining and upgrading infrastructure and managing a cut in state assistance, according to an annual survey by the MWRA Advisory Board, an independent group that represents the 60 cities and towns the MWRA serves in Eastern Massachusetts....
The increases have been attributed to continued improvements in MWRA infrastructure to meet federal water standards, but also the loss of a state Debt Service Assistance grant, $15 million last year, that will end up being covered by ratepayers.
"The bottom line is the same, whether it comes from ratepayers or taxpayers, the burden is falling on the backs of homeowners, and they are hurting," Joseph Favaloro, Advisory Board executive director, said in a statement.
The Advisory Board is considering several ways to relieve ratepayers. The group is working to restore the Debt Service Assistance grant and is also pushing for legislation that could help generate revenue for infrastructure improvements. One measure would levy a 5-cent tax on bottled water, with the revenue used specifically for infrastructure improvements. Another proposal would expand the septic tax credit to include homeowners who use municipal sewer systems, granting them a 20 percent tax credit toward the debt service portion of their sewer bills.
Ria Convery, a spokeswoman for the MWRA, said that her agency continues to work closely with the Advisory Board to find ways to relieve ratepayers, but that the survey shows the realistic issues ratepayers face in the upcoming year....
--more--"Ah, who cares when "flushing . . . millions of dollars away supporting a highly profitable industry" when it comes to $300 million in taxpayer dollars for Hollywood is o.k., even as the price of a school lunch rises; paying $13 million for a computer software system that could have cost less than $3 million is all right because the winner was a close friend of the House speaker, even as my poorer-than-dirt district "has been struggling to close a $2 million budget gap."; the lottery shelling out "millions of dollars" for sports tickets for "lottery officials, their family members, and friends" is fine, even as schools are closing; making interest payments to banks to the tune of "a staggering $22 billion" for the Big Pit, as we call it around here, is required, even as bridges are neglected across the state; and again, paying off banks like UBS, who can "demand repayment of an additional $2 million a month beginning in January" while also receiving a "$179 million payment," while the state pension fund loses $1 billion dollars -- which still didn't stop the executive director from carving himself a nice "$64,000 bonus on top of his $322,000 annual salary."
Oh, and did I not mention the $1 BILLION dollar giveaway to the pharmaceutical corporations, even though "it's never been easy to turn a profit in biotech?" Flush that money away, too, taxpayer. Of course, the war looters were next in line for a handout. And should the state be appropriating money for a "multimillion-dollar reconstruction" of golf courses?
Nor is it RECKLESS to BORROW the STATE INTO OBLIVION so they can PAY INTEREST to BANKS while SITTING ON $2 BILLION DOLLARS!
Need one final insult, Mass. taxpayers?
"Town officials... are trying to decide how much of a property tax break to offer and how they can secure state funding for infrastructure improvements.... although it could take several years for the studio to realize its potential"
Also see: Hollywood, Massachusetts
Hollywood (East) Disses Veterans
More Mass. $$$ to Movie Makers
Sorry, that wasn't it:
"$5m in tax breaks going to IBM for Littleton project
The Massachusetts Economic Assistance Coordinating Council approved $5 million in state and local tax breaks for IBM Corp., which recently began a $63 million expansion in Littleton. IBM vice president Bob McDonald said the company plans to create 42 jobs at the site over the next decade. McDonald said the computer giant, based in Armonk, N.Y., has already begun renovating a building and hopes to move into it next month. McDonald said the tax incentives were important, but the company would have gone forward with the expansion without them. IBM has 4,000 employees in Massachusetts, including about 2,000 in Littleton (Boston Globe October 30 2008)."
Yup, but TOLLS and TAXES need to GO UP!
