Candidate Seeks to Increase Revenue
Without Override

Newton Tab, June 15, 2005
by Bernie Smith

Mayoral hopeful Michael Striar sees the city in a Catch-22 bind: Newton needs to maintain, and even expand, many of the services it provides to residents, even as revenue streams remain flat and raising property taxes through a Prop 2 1/2 override is an unfair burden to ask elderly and fixed-income residents to pay.

Unveiling what he concedes could make or break his candidacy, Striar has laid out a four-point plan to increase the city's revenue while leaving property taxes alone, and has begun mailing postcards out to residents citywide to advertise his idea.

Three of Striar's items address the city's fiscal health in the long run. Those include establishing a municipal power company; developing a commercial corridor over the Massachusetts Turnpike; and fostering more public-private partnerships to fund capital improvement projects, such as building a new Newton North High School.

But to fill in the budgetary gap in the short term, Striar has proposed a novel fix: He wants to establish a voluntary 1 percent sales tax in the city, with all proceeds going directly to support Newton schools.

The Newton Centre businessman estimates his idea could generate up to $10 million for the city by its third year.

"We're living in a community where we've had a population step up and say they're willing to pay more in taxes" to support the public school system, Striar said, alluding to the passage of an $11.5 million override in 2002.

"Teachers are spending their own money to buy supplies. That's nonsense. If the schools need more money, then we need to" find a way to give it to them, he said.

Because of the bureaucratic hurdles involved in creating a real sales tax in the city - a move that would require Beacon Hill's approval, and unlikely possibility - Striar wants to ask Newton businesses to voluntarily agree to participate in his program," or "Money for Kids' Education."

Businesses that agree to participate would assess an additional 1 percent charge on each purchase. At the end of each fiscal quarter, when businesses file their state sales tax reports, they would send a check for the money collected (along with a report) to a designated Newton schools foundation.

Striar said this is a win-win for the city. Residents who are most likely to support a Prop 2 1/2 override - parents of school-age children - are also the city's biggest consumers. He believes many of those Newton residents will be willing to pay the tax because they know it will go directly towards improving the schools and keeping down class sizes.

Fixed-income seniors on the other hand, who can least afford a property tax increase, also tend to spend less than the general public, and would therefore not be as affected by the program.

Newton businesses would benefit as well, Striar argued. Businesses could proudly display to their customers that they are voluntarily participating in the program and actively support Newton schools, attracting a potentially larger customer base.

Asked why residents looking to help out the schools wouldn't just rather write a check to the Newton Schools Foundation or their local PTO instead, Strair said he felt many civic-minded residents would happily do both.

Striar said he understands the tight fiscal constraints the city is in, and vowed to do his best to avoid calling an override. He did say he would consider a "debt exclusion override," which raises taxes for a particular project, such as to fund building a new Newton North High School. But Striar said he would do everything he could to avoid a permanent property tax override, and pledged that if he did have to call for one, he would also include a ballot question recalling him from office.

Striar said he's been speaking with a number of businesses around Newton about his program and has received positive feedback for his plan.

To illustrate how the program would work, Striar recently purchased a brand new, $16,000 2005 Civic from Honda Village. He said he got Honda Village to agree to participate in the test and showed the TAB a copy of his receipt, showing a line on his bill for the payment, as well as a check the dealership cut to Newton Schools Foundation for $165.

Striar also made smaller purchases using the tax, purchasing a case of wine and a picture frame to demonstrate how the program could be used for any size business.

Striar said he's researched how effective the program might be. He said the state Department of Revenue told him $4.2 billion in taxable transactions occurred in Newton last year. Based on levels participation, he said the program could generate $3 million in the first year, $5 million in its second year and up to $10 million by the third year.

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