NEWS ARTICLE

August 24, 2006 The Sun Chronicle Newspaper

Taxes take center stage in Rep Race

BY JIM HAND / SUN CHRONICLE STAFF
Three of the four towns in the Fourth Bristol state representative district defeated tax overrides this spring, so naturally property taxes is a major topic in the district.

Five of the six men running for state representative in the district said everywhere they go in Seekonk, Rehoboth, Norton and Swansea, they hear complaints about property taxes, state aid and budget cuts.
It has led the four Democrats and one of the two Republicans running to replace retiring state Rep. Philip Travis, D-Rehoboth, to come up with their own ideas to deal with the problem.

The sixth candidate, Republican Brian Langevin, could not be reached for comment.

The proposals from the other candidates come at the time when Rehoboth, Seekonk and Norton are struggling with budget cuts.

The towns are cutting back on services, laying off teachers and, in the case of Seekonk, closing a school because tax increases were beaten back.


The situation has pitted homeowners concerned about high property taxes, especially the elderly, against young families with children in the schools, they said.

`` We're facing a disaster in Seekonk. We're losing a school,'' candidate Steve D'Amico said.

The five candidates said the state should provide more financial aid to cities and towns to support services such as education.

But, they had very different ideas on how to make the aid available.

D'Amico, a Seekonk Democrat, said his solution would be to close corporate tax loopholes to raise the money to fund schools.

He said, for example, electrical utilities are taxed on their equipment and power lines, while telecommunication companies are not.

Taxing telecommunication companies would raise $140 million a year, he said.

Steve Howitt, a Seekonk Republican, said he would support legalizing slot machines at racetracks to raise revenue and stop the flow of Massachusetts money to Rhode Island and Connecticut gambling facilities.

He said the money raised should go directly to cities and towns.

Howitt said school departments should also have to present detailed line-item budgets to town meeting so taxpayers could better scrutinize spending.

John Whelan, a Seekonk Democrat, said the state should share its $1.4 billion budget surplus with cites and towns.

Local communities should also have the option of establishing a 1 percent meals tax at restaurants.

Because the district borders Rhode Island, which has higher taxes, a local meals tax would not hurt area businesses, he said.

Robert Marquis, a Swansea Democrat, said more state aid is needed to stabilize property taxes and, if possible, lower them.

He said the state should better promote the state lottery through advertising to maximize the number of people playing so more revenue would be raised.

The state also needs a law preventing the Legislature from raiding lottery proceeds, so that all of the revenue goes to cities and towns, he said.

Nick Bernier, a Swansea Democrat, also blamed cuts in state aid for the `` complete disarray'' local towns find their budgets in.

He said state money could be freed up if waste could be reduced from various agencies and duplication was eliminated.

County government in particular needs to be reviewed so it could be streamlined, he said.

The primary elections is Sept. 19.