Could State Survive Drastic Plunge in Sales Tax?

There was not much daylight between incumbent state representative Cory
Atkins and her challenger KC Winslow when it came to their opinion on this
November's ballot questions concerning a cut in the sales tax and the added booze tax, although Winslow argued that the sales tax should be cut to 5 percent rather than 3 percent.

Winslow also suggested  that the state work to keep liquor sales from going to New Hampshire.

Question 1, repeal Chapter 40B

At the same time Atkins said that while she could go both ways on the affordable housing ballot measure (Abolishing Chapter 40B) she thought that the state law was  antiquated and that the state could be more creative in solving this  issue.

Atkins said that the the affordable housing in Concord should be  focused on helping people who grew up in Concord raise their kids there.  She said the other purpose of the housing should be so town employees  such as teachers, police officers and firefighters could live in the town  that they serve.

Winslow on the other hand saw the repeal of 40B as a way to protect the
town from over-development. She said she would much rather see the funds go to
renovation and preservation "for affordable purposes." Winslow  said that under
40B the so called affordable housing is in reality only  affordable to a small
percentage of the population. She recommended  "inclusionary zoning laws" as a
more suitable way to handle this  situation.

Cutting the sales tax

Atkins warned that cutting the sales tax would severely harm the quality of life and would mean cuts for education, health care and police.  Arguing that lowering the sales tax would not create enough economic activity, Atkins said that right now the state's budget shortfall is over $2 billion and it would increase to at least $4.5 billion should the sales tax be slashed. She said the MBTA and the  public schools would lose out because they receive a penny out of every sale that is made from the tax.

As for the question on the tax on alcohol, Winslow opposed this ballot measure because she viewed alcohol as a "luxury,  not a necessity like clothing or food," while Atkins said that the loss  of money for treatment "would be awful."

At the same time, while  Winslow suggested creating an economic buffer zone in northern  Massachusetts to deter people from shopping in New Hampshire,
Atkins thought trying to prevent people from heading up to New Hampshire for
deals was a lost cause.