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Summary of Question

The proposed law would limit certain taxes, and change laws relating to school budgets and compulsory binding arbitration. It would impose a limit on state and local taxes on real estate and personal property equal to 21/2% of the full and fair cash value of the property being taxed. If a locality currently imposes a tax greater than 2Vi% of that cash value, the tax would have to be decreased by 15% each year until the 21/2% level is reached. If a locality currently imposes a tax of less than 21/2%, it would not be allowed to increase the tax rate. In either situation, a city or town could raise its limit by a 2/3 local vote at a general election.

The proposed law would provide that the total taxes on real estate and personal property imposed by the state or by localities could never be increased by more than 21/2% of the total taxes imposed for the preceding year, unless two thirds of the voters agreed to the increase at a general election.

It would further provide that no law or regulation which imposes additional costs on a city ortown, or a law granting or increasing tax exemptions, would be effective unless the state agrees to assume the added cost. A division of the State Auditor's Department would determine the financial effect of laws and regulations on the various localities.

The proposal would limit the amount of money required to be appropriated for public schools to that amount voted upon by the local appropriating authority. It would also repeal the law which provides forcompulsory binding arbitration when labor negotiations concerning police and fire personnel come to an impasse. In addition, the petition would provide that no county, district, or authority could impose any annual increase in costs on a locality of greater than 4% of the total of the year before.

The proposed law would also reduce the maximum excise tax rate on motor vehicles from $66 per thousand to $25 per thousand, and it would allow a state income tax deduction equal to one half of the rent paid for the taxpayer's principal place of residence.

1980 - Middlesex CountyDo you approve of a law summarized below, which was disapproved by the House of Representatives on May 6, 1980, by a vote of 5-146, and on which no vote was taken by the Senate before May 7, 1980?

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Middlesex County Results
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City/Town Ward Pct Blanks Total Votes Cast
Totals
361,422
259,943
25,631 646,996
Acton
 
5,177
3,413
210
8,800
Arlington
 
16,266
10,358
597
27,221
Ashby
 
734
366
22
1,122
Ashland
 
2,911
1,441
66
4,418
Ayer
 
1,252
909
82
2,243
Bedford
 
3,409
2,371
235
6,015
Belmont
 
8,710
6,346
633
15,689
Billerica
 
9,725
4,642
289
14,656
Boxborough
 
828
495
21
1,344
Burlington
 
6,841
4,196
316
11,353
Cambridge
 
14,427
24,306
1,838
40,571
Carlisle
 
1,083
828
34
1,945
Chelmsford
 
9,995
5,665
260
15,920
Concord
 
5,084
3,432
389
8,905
Dracut
 
6,483
3,517
208
10,208
Dunstable
 
512
251
24
787
Everett
 
8,042
6,888
2,077
17,007
Framingham
 
16,463
12,666
601
29,730
Groton
 
1,803
1,073
73
2,949
Holliston
 
4,129
1,961
209
6,299
Hopkinton
 
2,046
1,466
46
3,558
Hudson
 
4,897
1,948
106
6,951
Lexington
 
8,590
8,211
756
17,557
Lincoln
 
1,356
1,566
112
3,034
Littleton
 
2,034
1,311
71
3,416
Lowell
 
16,149
15,883
2,055
34,087
Malden
 
14,711
8,481
1,031
24,223
Marlborough
 
8,072
5,227
267
13,566
Maynard
 
3,120
1,559
104
4,783
Medford
 
18,051
9,186
926
28,163
Melrose
 
10,087
4,723
600
15,410
Natick
 
8,731
6,037
479
15,247
Newton
 
20,766
21,152
2,553
44,471
N. Reading
 
3,750
1,899
79
5,728
Pepperell
 
2,175
1,051
84
3,310
Reading
 
7,702
4,415
301
12,418
Sherborn
 
1,382
896
39
2,317
Shirley
 
1,062
545
46
1,653
Somerville
 
15,643
14,554
1,529
31,726
Stoneham
 
7,041
3,278
268
10,587
Stow
 
1,708
824
39
2,571
Sudbury
 
4,580
2,846
228
7,654
Tewksbury
 
6,947
3,411
127
10,485
Townsend
 
1,891
1,005
48
2,944
Tyngsborough
 
1,561
880
44
2,485
Wakefield
 
8,588
4,194
426
13,208
Waltham
 
12,538
8,894
2,034
23,466
Watertown
 
9,650
7,090
886
17,626
Wayland
 
3,974
3,007
241
7,222
Westford
 
4,305
2,115
99
6,519
Weston
 
3,477
2,783
196
6,456
Wilmington
 
4,902
2,841
353
8,096
Winchester
 
6,609
4,443
439
11,491
Woburn
 
9,453
7,098
835
17,386
County Totals
361,422
259,943
25,631 646,996