In an attempt to extract money from some of these institutions, Collins has suggested that, without altering their tax-exempt status, they should pay to the city a "donation in lieu of taxes," similar to the procedure that both Harvard and M.I.T. follow in Cambridge. But this proposal is not as simple as it may sound, for, while the city is poor, so are the colleges.
Governor Foster Furcolo has proposed a more sweeping solution: imposition of a limited sales tax throughout the state. Receipts from this three per cent levy would be redistributed to the cities and towns of the commonwealth. In an effort to win Boston support for his proposal, Furcolo developed his program of redistribution so that the city would receive more than a generous share. It was said that such an indirect subsidy to Boston could cut the real estate levy--now $101.20--by as much as $20, a considerable improvement if possible.
Despite the obvious attraction of Furcolo's proposal for Boston members of the legislature, Powers bitterly attacked the sales tax idea, and threw his 28 years of political savvy into the fight. It was not passed. And when the Governor tried several times to revive his proposal, Powers' opposition and the natural reluctance of other congressmen to impose new taxes killed it.
To many, Powers' position seemed poorly supported. But others, such as Arnold M. Soloway, assistant professor of Economics and a member of Powers' "brain trust," doubt that Boston would, in the long-run, benefit from the sales tax revenue. "The city is like a sponge," Soloway says. If Boston got a windfall from the state, various groups of city employees would pressure for wage raises; this patronage pressure would soon soak up the additional funds meant for easing the tax burden.
"No additional funds from the outside can help Boston," Soloway believes, "and any lasting relief must come by means of internal reform within the city itself."
Boston already collects more taxes per capita than any other city in the nation--and nearly all this money comes through a real estate levy that is both too high and unequally assessed. The answer to the problem, says Powers, is not new sources of income, but reforms within the city itself. "Any proposed new tax would only be an intolerable hardship upon the people," he says.
But this ambitious hope raises the question: does Powers have the political courage--or rather, strength--to stand against the demands of many pressure groups? Last year, Mayor Hynes approved a "white paper" which called for a no-fire, no-hire policy. It has been collecting dust in his desk drawer; due to political pressure, the experiment came to naught.
Collins too favors radical economies. Poetically, he demands that the city eliminate "the drones, the fakers, the coffee-break takers." In addition, however, Collins has taken the politically dangerous position of endorsing a sales-tax program similar to that proposed by Governor Furcolo and defeated through the efforts of Senator Powers. In his campaign speeches, Collins has reiterated this idea constantly: even with the most rigid economies possible in the city government's operation, only a few dollars could be saved; additional revenue--i.e. the sales tax--alone can and must be found to reduce the tax rate and to end the upward spiral.
On the contrary, Powers seeks only economy, always a popular slogan. Unlike his opponent, he did not