It's time we all had a talk

Anyone who's been reading Boston.com's Budget Blues blog can see the connections between declining revenues, cuts in local aid and the ensuing cuts to libraries, schools, fire stations and other essential public structures.

Unfortunately, what many people in the state are perceiving is a series of incremental cuts that, when viewed discreetly, don't show the whole picture. People see potholes on the main street and blame their town government, rather than connecting the dots between diminished local capacity and the billions of dollars of tax cuts we enacted in Massachusetts over the last 15 years that have gutted local aid.

This is why the Joint Committee on Revenue's listening tour is so essential. We need to address these problems at the macro level. We need to connect the dots between the 9c cuts Gov. Patrick will likely announce and the obvious solution of additional revenue, which the state could raise by removing exemptions from the Tax Expenditure Budget.

Here are the tour dates:

Worcester - Tax Policy and the Challenges of Local Government
October 7th   
4:00pm to 6:00pm
The Academy at Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Framingham - Tax Policy and Vulnerable Populations
October 13th
10:00am to 12:00pm
Framingham Senior Center

(more below)

Pittsfield - Tax Policy as a Tool for Economic Development
October 21st
2:00 pm to 4:00pm
Berkshire Community College

Fall River - Tax Policy and the Taxation of Property
October 28th
6:00pm to 8:00pm
City Hall (pending confirmation)

Cambridge - Tax Policy and Working Families
November 5th
6:00pm to 8:00pm
Harvard Kennedy School of Government – JFK Jr. Forum