Lynn teacher’s union fighting ballot question

LYNN – With summer approaching and a national election not far behind, the Lynn Teacher’s Union is partnering with the Massachusetts Teacher’s Association in a battle to squash a bill that if passed would eliminate the state’s income tax.On the surface, the proposed bill would be a welcome sight for workers who cringe at the amount of money taken out of their paycheck by the state each week, but members of the union fear if the bill passes, funding for the state’s public schools will take a serious hit.The campaign to repeal the state’s income tax, responsible for more than $12 billion in annual revenue or 40 percent of the total state budget, is being led by former Libertarian Gubernatorial Candidate Carla Howell.If the bill passes, it would reduce the state income tax from the current rate of 5.3 percent to 2.65 percent for the 2009 tax year, and then eliminate it all together by 2010.Howell first proposed the bill in 2002, where it garnered a surprising 45 percent of the vote, but union officials say if residents knew how badly passing the bill would hurt schools and other publicly funded entities, they may think twice about supporting the action this time around.”Anytime people see that they will be saving money they are going to be in favor, but that money is going to have to come from somewhere,” said Lynn Teacher’s Union President Alice Gunning. “People will argue and say ‘well they don’t have it in other states,’ but look at the property taxes in those states (such as New Hampshire, which has the highest property tax rate in the country), they are much higher.”The poor economy combined with rising energy and insurance costs have already created a difficult budget situation for public school systems, including Lynn, where Superintendent Nicholas Kostan has proposed the closing of two elementary schools and the loss of more than 150 jobs.The MTA is arguing if the income tax were to disappear, it would result in “deep, unprecedented and unsustainable cuts” across the board, and virtually destroy the state’s infrastructure by cutting funding for the repair of roads and bridges.The Lynn union is part of the American Federation of Teachers, but is combining efforts with the MTA to raise awareness of this bill, and attempt to show the damage it could cause if passed.”How do you provide services for schools, fire, police if you don’t have the income tax coming in,” Gunning said. “We just think it is a poor idea and we are working with the MTA to defeat the ballot question.”Howell argues on her Web site that eliminating the income tax would improve the economy by allowing residents to bring home an average of $3,600 more per year, creating a boost in both investing and spending.In addition, Howell estimates that $11 billion would be taken from “big government” and handed to private business owners to create new jobs, eliminating government programs that are no longer working to benefit the state’s residents.