Baker rejects ‘millionaire tax’ to repair T
A state senator is seizing on the sudden closure of the Alewife MBTA garage to bring back up the socalled “millionaire tax” — but Gov. Charlie Baker isn’t hopping aboard.
“Let’s do a better job with the dollars we have,” Baker told the Herald yesterday when asked about levying the new tax for that purpose. He noted that his administration already has increased spending on the T, earmarking $8 billion for the system over the next five years.
Baker remarked on the proposal after state Sen. Jason Lewis (D-Winchester) tweeted this weekend, “It is unacceptable that we are not investing more in the MBTA infrastructure to ensure a safe and reliable transportation network … This is why I have announced plans to revive the ‘millionaire’s tax’ initiative: because it is the fairest and most progressive solution for significantly increasing investment in the #MBTA, as well as our roads, bridges, and other infrastructure.”
Lewis told the Herald yesterday the T is in desperate need of much more money than Baker is putting toward it.
“The plans for its future are wholly inadequate,” Lewis said.
Lewis and other advocates sought to put the tax — an additional 4 percent levy on income over $1 million — on November’s ballot as a referendum question, but the Supreme Judicial Court threw it out in June. The SJC took issue with the construction of the question, saying it related to too many different subjects — taxation as well as transportation and education, the two areas that would receive the new revenue.
The Alewife garage at the northern terminus of the Red Line closed abruptly for the weekend as the T discovered concrete crumbling in the 33-year-old structure. Contractors will begin $5.7 million worth of repairs in September.
The T said the garage would reopen today but that it would be closed to overnight parking and would be closed again next weekend for a follow-up assessment by engineers.