School board agrees to vote ‘no’ on Question 1

LYNN – The Lynn School Committee unanimously voted Wednesday to reject a ballot question this November that would abolish the state’s income tax.Question 1 on the Nov. 4 ballot would eliminate the state’s income tax by 2010 if approved, which would put more money in the pockets of citizens, but greatly reduce the amount available to the state to fund city and school budgets.Education leaders across the state have been campaigning against the question throughout the summer, warning that losing the income tax would decimate school budgets, leading to more school closings and thousands of layoffs next summer.The state’s income tax is responsible for more than $12 billion in annual revenue, or 40 percent of the total state budget.”If Question 1 is approved we are going to lose so many services in our community,” said Committee member Maria Carrasco. “So I ask how do we take action? We take action here by agreeing to vote no and we try to get out and show people how this will effect us.”Former Libertarian Gubernatorial Candidate Carla Howell first proposed the bill in 2002, where it garnered a surprising 45 percent of the vote, but union leaders say if residents knew the facts about how the decision would hurt school and city budgets, they may think twice about supporting the bill again.The Massachusetts Teacher’s Association and the Lynn Teacher’s Union have been working to raise awareness on the issue and Mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr. says he has a meeting planned next month to discuss the issue with city employees and local politicians.Clancy spoke only briefly on the matter at Wednesday night’s meeting, calling it a “critical matter” for both the city and the School Department.Other School Committee members agreed with Carrasco and warned if an income tax repeal were passed, the city’s school department would be a shell of its former self.”I don’t often like to use the word ‘devastation’, but that’s what it will do,” said Committee member John Ford. “You think we had layoffs this year?”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 she feels are no longer working to benefit the state’s residents.