Transparency — or a Back-Door Tax Increase?

 The City of Cambridge recently removed stormwater funding from the property-tax levy and began charging residentAL AND COMMERCIAL PROPERTY OWNERS separately through their utility bills. The City has described this change as a move toward greater transparency. But transparency should not mean paying twice. If stormwater funding was previously collected through property taxes, then removing it from the property-tax levy should have resulted in a corresponding reduction in the property-tax burden.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

                                                                   For many taxpayers, that reduction never materialized.

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Was this truly a change in how stormwater costs are collected — or has it become an increase in what Cambridge  taxpayers are being required to pay?

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Calling a new charge “transparent” does not make it revenue-neutral. If the City moved an existing cost from one tax mechanism to another, taxpayers should be shown, clearly and publicly:

 

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