Municipal budgets most stressed since ’80, report says

Boston Globe

State aid cuts, lack of growth are cited

December 7 2011: Cash-strapped cities and towns across Massachusetts are struggling with the worst stress on their budgets since passage of Proposition 2 1/2 in 1980, according to a new report from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.

The drumbeat of worrisome economic news has come from several fronts in the past two years: Municipal budget growth has been anemic, state aid has been slashed, and property taxes have risen to a three-decade high as a share of municipal revenue, according to the report.