Word: clt
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...Massachusetts--the only state in the U.S. which has reduced funding for public education in the past two years--officials already expect that they will be forced to cut 19 percent from state education funds to ease the budget crisis. If CLT passes, that figure could jump to 38 percent, education officials estimate. Massachusetts now ranks 48th among the 50 states in per capita spending on education...
Harvard officials concede that the direct impact of these cuts on the University would be minimal. But damage to other, less wealthy institutions, may be irreparable. In the words of President Derek C. Bok, who is spearheading an anti-CLT effort among university leaders, "Education is a seamless web. You can't just stand up when you're affected. You've got to help other people when they're affected...
According to a report issued earlier this year by City Manager Robert W. Healy, Cambridge stands to lose at least $12.52 million should the CLT petition pass. A more likely scenario calls for cuts on the order of $25 million. Such a loss would devastate the most basic services that everyone in Cambridge--town and gown alike--now depends upon...
...Cambridge, the ultimate irony of the CLT petition is that it would not even result in lower taxes. Healy has told the City Council that the only way to compensate for the loss of funds would be to raise property taxes to the limit allowed by Proposition 2 1/2. For many city residents, that would mean an overall tax increase. And even with the property tax hike, the city will still face cutbacks in basic services by fiscal year...
SUPPORTERS of the CLT petition are fond of ignoring these costs, arguing that the lower tax rate will bring enough new business into the state to turn the economy around. Such arguments betray a sad lack of concern for the thousands of Massachusetts residents whose lives and livelihoods would be devastated by the referenum's passage...