Catherine S. Bromberg, DOR communications director, said a department inquiry is automatically triggered when a missing return is brought to the department's attention.
Reeves has refused to produce copies of his 1992 returns, saying that the Freedom of Information Act does not require him to do so.
"If all elected officials in the state of Massachusetts want to provide their income taxes, then I will," he said yesterday.
While no officials have openly charged Reeves with wrongdoing, several faulted him for not paying greater attention to his personal finances.
"I think he's careless," Duehay said. "He should have checked this thing out and realized [the ordinances] had changed."
The mayor's supporters said the tax stories are just another example of unfair media coverage. "The question is, What inspired that investigation?" said Robert Winters, a Cambridge resident and math preceptor at Harvard. "And why is Reeves being singled out for inquiries with taxes?"
The Impact
Reeves is nearly halfway through his second two-year term. In Cambridge, the mayor's post is largely ceremonial. He is elected biennially by the nine-member city council.
The day-to-day administration of city services is performed by City Manager Robert W. Healy, whose contract was extended by the council on Monday through mid-1997.
"I think Mayor Reeves will be able to solidify his own base and draw on that, based on his accomplishments," Councillor Michael A. Sullivan said yesterday.
"Ken Reeves is elected by his constituents, which are the minority people in Cambridge," said Councillor William H. Walsh, who was convicted in April on 41 counts of bank fraud and conspiracy.
Reeves has noticeably distanced himself from the CCA, which endorsed his first candidacy for mayor in 1991. In the 1993 election he ran against the CCA-affiliated Duehay, and he has since been estranged from the group.
Political observers note that despite the financial controversies, what matters is council votes. And Reeves is virtually guaranteed the votes in 1995 of the five independent council members; himself, Vice Mayor Sheila T. Russell, and Councillors Timothy J. Toomey Jr., Sullivan and Walsh, if the councillor is not in jail by then.
"He doesn't need the CCA, because the CCA didn't elect him," said Edward N. Cyr, who served on the city council from 1990 to 1994.
"He doesn't need them in the least," Winters agreed. "Especially in the current situation, the overwhelming majority of Black voters will solidly support him, and there are many others standing along with him."
But even his supporters said his dealings with the press are problematic. "He has not done very well in talking with the press," Duehay said. "He must talk with reporters about what he's doing and answer their questions and give time to them."
This week, the mayor's explanation of the salary overpayment changed. Earlier, he had said the money from the school committee was deposited directly into his account. Now he says the checks went to his secretary, but she deposited them without telling him.
Although Reeves says he had no connection with Monday's protest, a phone number on a rally flyer was the same as that of the mayor's re-election campaign.