Doug Howgate, president of the business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said cutting taxes, boosting spending, and socking money away is an amazing trifecta that doesn’t come around very often and makes crafting a budget a lot easier. “You don’t normally see that unicorn,” he said. “…

Governor Healey’s Capital Authorization Bills On Thursday, January 19th, Governor Maura Healey filed the first capital bond bills of her Administration, totaling $1.4 billion. The first bill focuses on what the Administration identifies as the “immediate needs” of municipalities, and includes $987…

Budget leaders from the House, Senate, and Administration have agreed on a $40.410 billion consensus tax revenue figure for the fiscal year 2024 budget. Budget makers expect tax revenues to grow by $642 million (1.6 percent) over estimated FY 2023 collections of $39.768 billion. Notably, the…

Following a startling $11.5 billion surge in FY 2021 and FY 2022, tax revenues for this year and next settle into a lower and slower growth pattern as global risks escalate. MTF projects that FY 2023 revenues will top the $39.62 billion benchmark by $75 million and grow to $40.06 billion in FY 2024…

Doug Howgate, executive vice president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation and a member of Healey’s transition team, said the state’s budget office will be crucial to Healey’s early work. “ANF sits at this center point of what the governor-elect wants to do and how you do it,” Howgate said…

House and Senate budget leaders have released a compromise $3.76 billion economic development bill, which also closes the books on fiscal year (FY) 2022.  This legislation, which cuts the House and Senate economic development bill proposals by approximately $1.4 billion, does not include any…

Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation Executive Vice President Doug Howgate, who will soon take over as the group’s next leader, said the first three months of tax collections historically “bore little connection to revenue trends in subsequent months.” “The economic environment of the last two years…

“Massachusetts has seen unprecedented surplus revenue,” says Eileen McAnneny, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. An analysis by the public policy organization found the current surplus is the largest in recent history, far exceeding the $1 billion surplus the commonwealth…

Fiscal year 2023 began several months ago, but the loose ends of an eventful FY 2022 provides a more intriguing budget plotline. Unprecedented tax collections, outstanding spending bills, and close to $3 billion in taxpayer refunds combine for a fascinating and confusing fiscal picture with major…

“The surplus is a little bit larger than we initially anticipated, even a couple weeks ago,” said Doug Howgate, executive vice president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a business-backed budget watchdog that, as recently as last week, estimated the surplus could reach nearly $4.7 billion…