Keller @ Large: Governor Baker warns of rising taxes
BOSTON - "What's the toughest decision you made over the last eight years?" we asked outgoing Gov. Charlie Baker when he sat down with us in the WBZ-TV studios for an exit interview.
"I would argue every decision that we made during the COVID pandemic was enormously difficult," he replied.
It hasn't been a milk run for Baker, and while he exits next month as one of the nation's most popular governors, his performance hasn't always been flawless. But one consistent theme of the Baker years has been resistance to new broad-based taxes. And Baker views the just-passed "Millionaire'sTax" as the start of a damaging trend.
Q: Are you worried that we're headed back to "Taxachusetts?"
A: There's gonna be a lot of consequences, I think, that won't be all that great, to some of the issues associated with the Millionaire's Tax. And I think it does send a message to people that the effective tax rate here if you sell a home, if you sell a business, if you run a business, even a small one, is gonna be nine percent.
Q: And what about Proposition 2½, the 41-year-old property tax limitation law that some on Beacon Hill have been trying to undermine for years?
A: It's always on the agenda. Prop 2½ has been on the radar every year for as long as I can remember, and I've said many times, I think Prop 2½ is probably one of the most important fiscal responsibilities and economic development pieces of legislation that ever passed in Massachusetts. I made very clear early on that Prop 2½ was sacrosanct as far as I was concerned."
Q: How about the incoming governor, does she feel the same way as best you can tell?
A: I don't know, I don't think this is one people have been talking about because it is viewed by a lot of folks as "settled." But I think doing anything to Prop 2½ would be a huge mistake.
Is Prop 2½ really at risk on Beacon Hill?
There are bills pending right now up there that would make an end run around the law's constraints, by creating special "community benefits districts," for example, or trying to ease the law's limits on the auto excise tax you pay.
These moves have been blocked for years by the threat of public backlash and gubernatorial veto, but after the passage of the tax hike last month with the support of Governor-elect Healey, Baker's not the only Prop 2½ backer who's wondering what comes next.
You can watch the entire interview with Gov. Baker at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 24, on the WBZ Morning News.
