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Gov. Patrick Asks Municipal Leaders To Back Tax Hikes

Dwight Sipler

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick urged city and town leaders Friday to support his call for a big tax hike.

Addressing the annual meeting of the Massachusetts Municipal Association in Boston, Governor Patrick appealed for help in making the case for what he called “ growth and opportunity”.  Patrick is proposing  the first increase in unrestricted local aid to cities and towns in four years. Coupled with a proposed hike in education spending, total state aid to municipalities would increase by 5 percent under the governor plan.  But to pay for it, and an ambitious upgrade to the state’s transportation system, Patrick has proposed a tax increase totaling $1.9 billion.   After the speech, Patrick met privately with many mayors.

The record-setting tenure of Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno. The 2011 tornado and its recovery that remade the largest city in Western Massachusetts. The fallout from the deadly COVID outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers Home. Those are just a few of the thousands and thousands of stories WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill has covered for WAMC in his nearly 17 years with the station.
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