Opinion: Sorry Senator Lewis, Millionaire's Surtax A Bad Idea

A Letter to the Editor from Tony Conte:

I was disappointed but not surprised to see that our State Senator Jason Lewis has introduced an economically destructive legislative amendment to the Massachusetts Constitution that would be identical to the initiative amendment the Supreme Judicial Court struck down as unconstitutional, namely a 4 percent surtax on income over $1 million.

While the surtax would not directly effect me personally, if enacted it would definitely be harmful to all Massachusetts residents as it drives wealthy and productive people out of the Commonwealth. The Surtax would be a stinging message that class warfare is alive and well in Massachusetts. We already have probably the most onerous Estate Tax in the nation which effects most people who own a home and a few dollars in savings in suburban Greater Boston and is a major factor in older people moving to New Hampshire, Florida and other states that do not have a tax on the privilege of dying. Those who leave Massachusetts to escape the confiscatory Estate Tax also deprive the Commonwealth of many years worth of income and sales taxes which will be compounded if the Millionaires’ Surtax is enacted.

Furthermore, once the precedent of a graduated income tax on millionaires is established, it will be much easier to lower the income level for graduated income tax rates to the middle class – particularly after the Millionaires’ Surtax does not bring in as much revenue as predicted and other income tax collections fall as wealthy people leave Massachusetts. I’m sure Senator Lewis will dismiss these objections as foolish speculation, but we need only look to other states that have pursued such class warfare policies like California, Connecticut, and New Jersey for example and seen an exodus of wealthy people after enacting punitive tax rates. Even liberal New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has recognized that excessive taxation is driving wealthy people out of his state. Massachusetts does not suffer from insufficient revenue, but rather excessive spending like the fact that we spend more than four times the national average per mile for highway maintenance. More is never enough for the tax and spending lobby.

Anthony Conte, Harvard St., Winchester