FY 2021 tax revenues are projected to fall by $6 billion or 19.3 percent from the January 2020 benchmark. Massive layoffs push the unemployment rate to nearly 22 percent in Q4 FY 2020, causing withholding taxes to decline by $1.9 billion. Shutting down economic activities and the loss of personal…

A recent report (April 14) from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation (MTF) assesses the state’s fiscal condition. MTF forecasts that because of the shutdown of most businesses, the Commonwealth will collect $4-$6 billion, or at least 14.1 percent less in revenues than anticipated, for the current…

In a letter to Senate Ways and Means Chairmen Michael Rodrigues, Aaron Michlewitz and Administration and Finance Secretary Michael Heffernan, the chief fiscal 2021 budget planners, Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation President Eileen McAnneny offered a few ideas on how to deal with budget shortfalls…

"It seems highly likely that the fiscal 2021 budget will be most difficult in recent memory," Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation President Eileen McAnneny wrote in a letter to Ways and Means Chairmen Sen. Michael Rodrigues and Aaron Michlewitz and Administration and Finance Secretary…

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, an influential think tank in Boston, disagreed that borrowing would be the best way to fill the shortfall. The group wants the governor to revise down his $44.6 billion budget proposal filed in January, and to take other steps to curb spending, Eileen…

"The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted seemingly everything about our normal routines, and the state’s budget process on Beacon Hill is no exception. Three of the unique challenges facing lawmakers warrant mentioning," says MTF president Eileen McAnneny in this op-ed published in the Boston…

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation predicts the state will see a $4.4 billion drop in tax revenues in the fiscal year that begins July 1, a figure that could grow depending on how long people are out of work. Eileen McAnneny, the group's president, said while tax proposals are likely shelved…

In a letter to Senate Ways and Means Chairmen Michael Rodrigues, Aaron Michlewitz and Administration and Finance Secretary Michael Heffernan, the chief fiscal 2021 budget planners, MTF President Eileen McAnneny outlined the array of options available to legislators to help address the public…

To calculate several other expected revenues, the town is anticipating a 14.1 percent drop from previous predictions. This thinking, Mayo said, was influenced by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, which is predicting the state will see a 14.1 percent reduction in state revenue in Massachusetts…

McAnneny, of the business-backed taxpayers foundation, says the CARES Act is "insufficient to mitigate the economic impacts of the pandemic." In her testimony earlier this month, McAnneny highlighted the role that federal funds can play by pointing the $7.4 billion in American Recovery and…