Letter: Framingham Councilors Urge Support Of Fair Share Amendment

The following is a letter to the editor submitted jointly by four Framingham City Council members. It does not necessarily reflect the views of Framingham Patch.

FRAMINGHAM, MA - Massachusetts has a historic opportunity to provide for the future of our state this November. The Fair Share Amendment will improve our quality of life without additional strain on most residents and make the tax structure more equitable. We urge voters to support the Fair Share Amendment on the fall election ballot.

It has never been clearer that Massachusetts needs to make significant investments in transportation and public education. Our MBTA and commuter rail is a mess, there is a waiting list for state support for school building replacement, and our roads and bridges have been neglected for decades.

Framingham, our hometown, has extensive infrastructure needs, including more than 10 bridges in need of repair or reconstruction, miles of roads in need of repair, and several schools with failing roofs that far outpace our regular revenue collection. We can’t keep saddling our taxpayers with the burden of paying an unfair share for this desperately needed work.

Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Massachusetts needed to invest more in transportation and public education. Those investments are more necessary than ever to produce an equitable and long-lasting recovery that helps all residents and small businesses and not just the rich.

Those in the highest income brackets have received the lion’s share of tax breaks over the past decade and pay a lower effective tax rate than the rest of us! A great deal of their income is sheltered from taxation and in recent years, the net worth of the extremely wealthy has increased substantially.

Thankfully, the Fair Share Amendment will be on the November 2022 Massachusetts statewide ballot. It will create a tax surcharge of four percentage points on annual income above one million dollars. These funds would then be dedicated to quality public education and affordable public colleges and universities, and for the repair and maintenance of roads, bridges, and public transportation.

Please vote for the Fair Share Amendment this November.

Sincerely,

Tracey Bryant, Leora Mallach, Adam Steiner, Cesar Stewart-Morales
Members of the Framingham City Council