BANG FOR OUR BUCK?

[paineinthearse]

BANG FOR OUR BUCK?

Last Sunday the Boston Globe published a "Thinking Big" feature, based on data and analysis by the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, that uses a calendar theme to explain the value we get for our tax dollars and describe what share of our income is used to pay for everything that state and local governments provide.

The following excerpt from the feature's introduction explains its general concept:

Three hundred and thirty days. That's what is left in the year after people have earned enough to pay all state and local taxes. In Massachusetts, state and local taxes account for only about 9.6% of total personal income, the amount we earn in 35 days out of 365. Next Friday is the 35th day of the year. It is a useful time to pause and think about the value that we receive, individually and as a community, for the state and local taxes we all pay.

When we think about the taxes we pay, we often forget what those taxes help to pay for: our public schools; health care for a million people (including nursing homes and prescription drugs for senior citizens); police and fire protection for all of us; roads and bridges; playgrounds, pools and skating rinks; services for people with mental illness or mental retardation; courts, prosecutors and prisons to punish criminals; child care, job training and subsistence income for poor families; affordable housing; higher education, workforce training programs and other economic development efforts; child protection services; environmental protection; and all of the other services that government provides.

The full feature can be viewed at the following link:

Bang for our buck?
http://www.massbudget.org/Bang%20for%20our%20buck.pdf


Noah Berger
Executive Director
E-Mail: [e-mail]
Phone: [phone], ext. 102

Jessie Colbert
Director of Development & External Relations
E-Mail: [e-mail]
Phone: [phone], ext. 113

[Kathy in Cambridge]

1. Thank you for sharing this

great article