Ipswich, with about 2,200 students, is one of the many school districts in Massachusetts. Ipswich is governed by an open town meeting at which every registered voter may speak and vote. Budgets in Ipswich are highly detailed public documents in which every salary, classroom, and operating expenditure is identified. The budget book provides…

This paper uses survey data collected during the 2 weeks following the November 4, 1980, election to answer questions concerning how local public education should be funded in the wake of the passing of Proposition 2 1/2, a measure that requires high tax rate cities and towns to reduce property tax levies by at least 15 percent per year until they…

This paper uses data from a large statewide survey of Massachusetts residents to measure support for Proposition 2 1/2. Proposition 2 1/2 required high tax rate communities to reduce property tax levies 15 percent per year until the tax rate is reduced to the maximum allowable rate of 2 1/2 percent of full and fair market value. Specifically, this…

This report outlines the educational fiscal impacts of the present Massachusetts system of school finance and describes the fiscal characteristics and effects of alternative finance plans that are both equitable and elastic in nature. The first part of the report describes and evaluates the overall character of the Massachusetts State-local fiscal…

This paper focuses on the characteristics of Massachusetts voters who support Proposition 2 1/2, a stringent property tax limitation measure. Section I uses cross-tabular analysis to examine variations in support for the tax limitation measure across a number of demographic, household, and municipal characteristics, as well as attitudinal…

In Hatfield, Massachusetts, long-unquestioned social contract (guaranteed tax support for children's free public education) is up for grabs. A battle over condoms underlies more serious generational differences over "frills" (mainstreaming, peer mediation, and affective education) and who should pay. Parents may have to contribute to…

The primary sources of capital funds in Minnesota are the local capital expenditure levy and school district bond sales. The state provides assistance to low-wealth districts by providing a capital expenditure equalization aid program and two types of loans under the Maximum Effort School Aid Law. It has been argued that the concepts of equal…

This paper uses data obtained by a large statewide survey of Massachusetts residents to measure the relative importance of certain motivations in influencing the overall statewide vote on Proposition 2 1/2. Proposition 2 1/2 severely restricts the ability of Massachusetts cities and towns to raise tax revenue for local services. Interviews were…

In an effort to identify and assess the social, economic, and political effects of nuclear power plant construction and operation upon two host communities (Plymouth, Massachusetts and Waterford, Connecticut), a post-licensing review revealed that the primary impact of the nuclear power plants in both communities was an increase in the property…