Massachusetts Governor Healey Proposes a Tax on Your Excise Tax

Inflation soared in January, with prices up three percent from a year ago. Hey, times are tough all over. With the cost of everything from housing to food to medicine rising, the last thing you need is for the government to add to your tax burden.

They wouldn't do that, would they? They are going to try.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, already a candidate for re-election next year, has proposed extending the state's 6.25 percent sales tax to candy, which could raise millions in new taxes, and is also pushing a plan to give cities and towns the ability to raise additional local taxes.

It's called the Municipal Empowerment Act.

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Massachusetts law prohibits municipalities from raising property taxes by more than 2.5 percent under Proposition 2 1/2, but the Municipal Empowerment Act gets around that by allowing communities to raise other taxes.

Healey's proposal increases the local option hotel and meals tax and seeks a new five percent surcharge on the motor vehicle excise tax. In other words, a tax on the tax.

The Municipal Empowerment Act includes several provisions that benefit local communities including, shielding anyone who administers fentanyl strips, including local public safety officials, from criminal or civil liability, creating new property tax exemptions for seniors, and reforming procurement laws.

So far, the Massachusetts Legislature, which needs to approve the proposal, is cool to the idea. However, with money tight on Beacon Hill, local option taxes might allow the state to save some on local aid.

Many municipal leaders, faced with tight budgets, support the Healey initiative – New Bedford Mayor Jon Michell among them.

"The Municipal Empowerment Act clears away unnecessary red tape that has impeded the efficient operation of local governments for far too long," Mitchell said.

"Whether it's modernizing the public meeting process to take advantage of new remote technologies or streamlining public procurement laws to save time and money, the bill is a demonstration that the Healey-Driscoll Administration has listened attentively to the concerns of cities and towns, and is committed to addressing them," he said.

The Healey Administration introduced a similar local option tax plan last year that got little legislative support.