Gov. Patrick Won’t Support Latest Transportation Finance Plan
By: Bret Silverberg Gov. Deval Patrick said he would not support a new transportation finance plan that would create $ 500 million in new taxes.
Mayor Announces $1.8 Billion Capital Plan
The mayor last week announced a plan to invest $ 1.8 billion over the next five years in capital projects across the city, including $ 1.6 million for a new park near Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in the Charlestown Navy Yard. At a press conference held Friday, May 17 outside the recently opened hospital, Mayor Thomas Menino discussed some of the 341 projects included in the city’s five-year capital plan for fiscal years 2014-2018—projects that will improve and maintain the city’s roads, buildings, technology and play spaces. The five-year capital plan will “create 460 construction jobs in FY2014” and will “transform city neighborhoods, learning, recreation and streets,” according to a press release from the mayor’s office. “Our city draws its strength from its neighborhoods, and this year’s capital plan will make our neighborhoods better for all of the families that live in our city,” Menino said. “The park here at Spaulding reflects my commitment to build a city that works for all of our people, not just some of our people.” The new Charlestown park will accommodate children and adults of all abilities. The plan includes $ 196 million in new project authorizations in 2014, including $ 100 million for city parks. Some of the projects highlighted in the five-year plan include: • A $ 6.5 million overhaul of the playing fields at West Roxbury High School Complex; • The reopening of Flaherty Pool in Roslindale this summer ($ 5.6 million) and soon-to-begin construction on Draper Pool in West Roxbury ($ 3.75 million); • A $ 15 million investment over three years to support Boston Public Schools’ new student assignment plan; • ($ 20.5 million for the construction of a new school at 585 Commercial St. in the North End to serve downtown area families and children, starting in the fall of 2016; • A $ 18.6 million expansion of the Eliot School in the North End; • $ 16 million for design and initial construction on a transformed Central Library in Copley Square, with new children’s and teen spaces and opening up of the Johnson Building to the street by replacing granite with glass; • Repairs to nearly 500,000 sq. ft. of sidewalk across the city, improvements to more than 1,500 pedestrian ramps to bring them up to ADA compliance and resurfacing of more than 20 miles of roadway; • Improvements to Upham’s Corner ($ 4.2 million) and Central Square ($ 6 million), with construction to begin in FY2014; • And $ 1 million for Boston’s first-ever “youth budget,” created by and for the city’s youth. The mayor’s full five-year capital plan and other budget documents can be viewed online […]
Retiring at 50: Could You Follow This Woman’s Extreme Savings Plan?
Americans may be living longer, but our retirement plans aren’t keeping up. Which means people are living longer with smaller bank accounts. But Marlene Konkoly will retire at age 50. How did she do it? She contributes a whopping 45 percent of the gross annual income she earns as a procurement officer for an automotive finance company to her retirement—all while owning a home and remaining debt-free. Konkoly is actually well ahead of the retirement savings curve compared to many of her fellow Americans. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, fewer than half of Americans even know how much money they would need to retire. And nearly a third of employees who had access to a defined contribution plan such as a 401(k) did not participate in it. “Save at least what your employer matches in your 401(k),” Konkoly said. “It’s like saying no to free money if you don’t.” Konkoly, who lives in Royal Oak, MI, said she started saving at 22—but only because other people said she should. She saved a mere 2 percent at her first job out of college. “I didn’t think I could afford much. I didn’t have any understanding of savings and how it would affect my future,” she said. $ 17,000 in Debt At 27, she had $ 17,000 in credit card debt—but this became a turning point in her financial history. “I made the decision right then to get myself out of debt,” she said. “I took on extra work where I could. I started to learn how to research purchases before I bought items, and I began budgeting for the first time ever. I successfully eliminated my debt five years later.” Once she was out of credit card debt, Konkoly, who is single and has no children, turned her focus to her golden years. “I started to see people around me who simply could not afford to ever retire,” she said. “I knew I didn’t want to be in that position, so I started applying the same principles which got me out of debt toward saving more for retirement.” How She Got Smart Konkoly decided to get smart: She took graduate classes in personal finance to understand her portfolio and learn about retirement savings. She reads books, researches on the Internet and follows blogs about saving and investing. And she works with a financial adviser she trusts. “Just because I can do it myself doesn’t mean I have to,” Konkoly said. “Having a professional adviser allows me to focus on other parts of my life without the time commitment of constantly researching the market.” Maxing Out Her 401K Konkoly “maxes […]
State House Transportation Plan Increases Gas, Cigarette Taxes
State House and Senate lawmakers have announced a joint transportation plan which would close an estimated five-year, $ 2.3 billion transportation budget gap through tax increases to cigarettes, gas and new taxes on business technologies. The plan, which would create $ 500 million in new revenue, focuses on long-term financing for the state’s regional transit authorities and the state department of transportation, asks the MBTA and MassDOT to continue to hit revenue and savings targets, moves employees off of the capital budget for three years and fully funds the state ice and snow budget. The plan was unveiled at a State House news conference Tuesday led by Massachusetts Speaker of the House Robert A. DeLeo and Senate President Therese Murray. To provide new revenue to close the estimated five-year out gap there would be a 3-cent gas tax increase (which would be indexed to inflation), a $ 1 per-pack increase on cigarettes along with excise tax increases on cigars and smokeless tobacco, a new sales tax for businesses for software purchases, an elimination of the “utility” tax classification and a changing of the sourcing of the state’s sales factor system, which would require out of state companies that sell products in state to pay more in taxes. The proposal eliminates the need for MBTA fare increases and would overshoot the deficit by $ 300 million for the next five years, according to Sen. Stephen Brewer, chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means. This plan differs from Gov. Deval Patrick’s 10-year, $ 13 billion transportation investment proposal released in January. Patrick’s plan involves tax increases to gas and income, fees for vehicle registrations along with fare, fee and toll increases and a new tolling mechanism. A reporter asked if the House and Senate joint plan is a “vote of no confidence” for Patrick’s plan. Murray said the group of legislators “considers the governor a partner on this.” “He put out a 10-year vision,” she said. “We’re just saying maybe 10 years is too ambitious right away.” DeLeo and Murrey made no mention of improvements to infrastructure, which Patrick has sought to address through his Accelerated Bridge Program and through his transportation plan. Murray, when asked, insisted the state’s infrastructural needs will be addressed through the joint plan. “I think it’s good that there is attention on the fact that there are infrastructure needs,” she said. “Nobody wants to go over a bridge that’s going to fall down. We want to invest on our infrastructure we just have a different plan on how to do that.” Brewer was a bit harsher when it came to the governor’s plan. […]
New Plan for Albany Street Apartments OK’d
It’s official: The developer of the 275 Albany Street project will move ahead with its project as a dual apartment complex instead of a hotel and apartment complex, the Boston Redevelopment Authority decided last week. The dual-hotel project by Normandy Real Estate Partners was originally approved in 2010, and was changed the first time in the summer of 2012 to become half hotel, half residential, before this latest change to a full residential development. The $ 145 million project is comprised of two buildings, a 19-story apartment complex facing Traveler Street and an L-shaped building on East Berkeley Street that will rise 11 stories. Thee Traveler St. structure will be used for residential use with up to 220 units, and the East Berkeley structure will also be used for residential use with up to 180 units rooms. In addition, the project will include retail and possibly restaurant space, with accessory parking with up to 180 parking spaces. The project is projected to create 300 construction jobs and 15 permanent jobs. The BRA came to the South End in late February to review the project’s new plans with residents. The Albany Street area is no stranger to upcoming developments. The Ink Block apartment complex, which will feature a Whole Foods Market, is planned for this spring. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch
Patrick Addresses Hundreds at Rally to Support His Budget Plan [VIDEO]
Hundreds of people bused in from across the state packed into a State House auditorim Tuesday morning to rally in support of Gov. Deval Patrick’s tax plan, which they say is critical to make much-needed improvements in education and transportation infrastructure. The rally, which was organized by Campaign for our Communities, a coalition of over 120 organizations across the commonwealth, ended with attendees heading off to the offices of their representatives, urging them to vote for Patrick’s plan. The governor’s $ 34.8 billion budget proposal calls for an increase in the income tax from 5.25 percent to 6.25 percent and the elimination of 44 deductions coupled with a decrease in the sales tax from 6.25 percent to 4.5 percent and a doubling of personal exemption. Patrick said at Tuesday’s rally that the time had come to speak as “grown-ups, in a fact-based way, about taxes, because taxes are the price of civilization.” By Patrick’s estimates, those who make under $ 62,000 a year shouldn’t see an increase in taxes and that those who make $ 100,000 will, on average, see a rise of a $ 300 to $ 400. To allow individuals to see how the plan would affect their taxes, the governor’s office last week released an online tool that calculates users’ tax bill. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch
See Your Own Tax Bill Under Patrick Budget Plan
In an effort to further promote his proposed $ 34.8 billlion budget, Gov. Deval Patrick this week rolled out an online tool that would help families see the effect his plan would have on their bottom line. The tool was released less than a week after Patrick unveiled 400 online maps showing what each district would receive in transportation and education benefits under his tax plan. “We are proposing meaningful investments in education and transportation, and people want to know what that means for them,” Patrick said. “Last week, with the maps, we showed what long-postponed projects would get done in each community. Now, with this tool, we show just what the costs or savings will be for individual households.” The program not only lets users enter their income information to see how their tax bill would change, it also allows them to develop their own tax reform proposal and see how it would alter their net income. The administration claims that about half of Massachusetts taxpayers will see a reduction in their tax burden, or come out the same, under Patrick’s proposal, which is marked by an increase in the income tax from 5.25 percent to 6.25 percent and the end of 44 deductions combined with a reduction in the sales tax from 6.25 percent to 4.5 percent a a doubling of personal exemptions. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch
Plan to Build Hotel On Albany Street Is Scrapped
There won’t be a hotel built on Albany Street in the South End after all, according to the latest filing with the Boston Redevelopment Authority. In what was originally approved as a two-hotel project, then a one hotel, one apartment complex project, the plans for the 275 Albany Street site have changed once again, this time switching to two all-residential apartment buildings and a large parking garage. The two buildings that will now seek the BRA’s approval are a 19-story apartment complex facing Traveler Street and an L-shaped building on East Berkeley Street that will rise 11 stories. Thee Traveler St. structure will be used for residential use with up to 220 units, and the East Berkeley structure will also be used for residential use with up to 180 units rooms. In addition, the project will include retail and possibly restaurant space, with accessory parking with up to 180 parking spaces. The dual-hotel project by Normandy Real Estate Partners was originally approved in 2010, and was changed the first time in the summer of 2012 to become half hotel, half residential. The BRA has scheduled a public meeting on Feb. 26 to review the project’s new plans. The meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. at Project Place, (1145 Washington St. – Suite 2.) The Albany Street area is no stranger to upcoming developments. The Ink Block apartment complex, which will feature a Whole Foods Market, is planned for this spring. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch