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g_rich t1_j2wcaxu wrote

Reply to comment by SandyBouattick in Healey should give rural Massachusetts a seat at the table - The Boston Globe by GlobeOpinion

Greater Boston is the economic driver for the state and generates a majority of income for the state in terms of taxes so it’s actually the other way around.

Greater Boston is the one paying for the infrastructure in rural Mass, so a town 2 hours outside Boston of a few thousand is not paying to maintain the roads in the city of Boston or fund the T; they are actually receiving more for the $1 in taxes they contribute than someone living in Boston, Worcester or Springfield.

They should actually be championing for more investment in the infrastructure of greater Boston, because that investment improves the economic output of the state which generates more taxes which results in more funding for them.

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SandyBouattick t1_j2wqdor wrote

Do you have a source for this? I'd like to see how the towns break down on local funding vs redistribution from Boston as you say.

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g_rich t1_j2wwjk6 wrote

If I recall correctly tax sources are roughly 1/3 property tax, 1/3 income tax and the other 1/3 are things like sales tax, corporate taxes, and excise taxes. Massachusetts has a population of a little over 7 million and about 2/3 of those live in the greater Boston metropolitan area. We can remove property taxes from the equation due to those taxes going directly to the cities and towns to fund services such as education, police and fire. That leaves us with the other 2/3 that comprise mostly of income, sales and corporate taxes. Considering that 2/3’s of the population and a large portion of the major corporations being located in the Boston metro it’s safe to say that a majority of income, sales and corporate taxes are coming from the Boston Metro area.

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SandyBouattick t1_j2xgrb9 wrote

I agree that is safe to say, but it is also safe to say that a majority of MA tax money is spent on the greater Boston metro as well, so that doesn't tell us how much leaves greater Boston and goes to all the rural towns like you said. Do you have a source for your claim? I'd like to verify that and see how much towns are getting from Boston.

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Red7395 t1_j4dzo5l wrote

All Massachusetts residents pay sales tax. A penny of that goes to the T....whether residents have access to it or not.

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