Massachusett's Late COGD: A Tale of Broken Promises and Increased Spending

Center for Fiscal Accountability ^ | 2011-08-15 | Jacob Feldman

[92nina]

...Massachusetts finishes in tenth place for highest Cost of Government Day in 2011. The Cost of Government Day measures the calendar date by which the average American paid off his/her share of spending and regulatory burdens on all levels of governments: federal, state and local.

Massachusetts taxpayers must work 227 days out of the year to pay for state, local, and their share of federal of government spending and regulations.

Additionally, a heavier tax burden has been laid upon taxpayers in the last decade. From 2002 to 2011, Massachusetts taxpayers were saddled with an additional tax burden of $1,285.40 for each man, woman, and child – a cumulative tax increase of $8.52 billion. In fact, for the past two fiscal years, the government has increased state taxes. Together, state and local taxes compose roughly 10 percent of all income earned.

When Governor Deval Patrick signed the FY2011 budget into law, he promised to cut government spending, but the promise only amounted to increasing the debt at a slightly slower rate of 0.2 percent while spending increased 6 percent during the FY2011 year. Massachusetts’s high Cost of Government is a result of federal taxation on a high income state in combination with bloated state budgets.

[92nina]

"Massachusetts is the fourth state to “celebrate” Cost of Government after the national average of August 12 – three days later..."

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