Revenues Plummet, Fiscal Outlook Worsens

The Boston Globe is reporting today that state tax revenues will likely come in $200 million under Patrick Administration estimates. Good thing the Globe has this information, because apparently it is more important that Governor Patrick’s Morrissey Boulevard office is informed before the members of the Legislature. If it weren’t for the Boston Globe, we would rarely have the details necessary to fully understand the fiscal outlook.

You may remember during the budget debate, Democrats on Beacon Hill pretty much said the world would come to an end if we didn’t approve the $1 billion in new taxes. Well, we hiked taxes on the hardworking residents of Massachusetts and still the economic climate continues to worsen. Could it be that raising taxes during the worst economic times since the Great Depression wasn’t the brightest idea? House Republicans offered hundreds of millions of dollars worth of savings during the spring budget debate, yet all of those ideas were overwhelmingly rejected. Democrats instead opted to raise the sales tax, lift the tax exemption on alcohol purchases, hike other taxes and raise RMV fees. People can’t afford to pay anymore and that theme is highlighted here in the latest tax revenue figures.

While it’s not clear yet, we fear that a substantial amount of revenue is being lost to sales tax free New Hampshire and the Internet. Taxpayers are looking for alternative avenues to make purchases; not only to save a few bucks but also to send a wake up call to Beacon Hill.

The Governor will likely have to make emergency cuts to an already bare bones budget and people across the Commonwealth will suffer because of poor planning by Deval Patrick, his administration and the tax and spend Democrats on Beacon Hill.