Have You Gotten YOUR 50% Pay Increase Yet?

That's what Massachusetts cities and towns have gotten from us, the taxpayers, since 2000. A 50% increase in property taxes paid by local homeowners, on top of the illegal income tax increase above 5% that, supposedly, is paying for more local aid to lower our property taxes.

But does it? Local aid is up every year since 2003, and so are our property taxes.

Now the the "override" season begins, with a vote in Winchester to raise property taxes even higher than the 2.5% annual increase allowed by law. Some 27 communities are considering tax hike override votes this year, with even more likely to follow.

So we pay illegally high Massachusetts income taxes to give more tax dollars to local towns, and the towns react by pushing new votes for even higher taxes on local homeowners.

This is "property tax relief," Deval Patrick-style.