Question 1 backers launch appeal

Urgently seek donations for ads

Just days after a poll showed flagging support for eliminating the state income tax through ballot Question 1, proponents of the measure fired off an urgent appeal for donations yesterday to keep their radio ads on the air.

The e-mail appeal said radio stations would cancel the ads unless backers paid $81,000 within 72 hours.

"We need you. We need your contribution now," said the e-mail, signed by Question 1 petitioners Carla Howell and Michael Cloud, the founders of the Committee for Small Government.

Campaign finance records show the group has so far been outspent by opponents of the ballot question by more than 8 to 1, with a group called Coalition for Our Communities spending $3.5 million by Oct. 15 on its campaign opposing the measure. The Committee for Small Government had spent $400,000 by that date.

Question 1 would cut the state income tax from 5.3 to 2.65 percent on Jan. 1 and eliminate it entirely one year later. A 7News/Suffolk University poll conducted last week found that 59 percent of 400 voters surveyed opposed the question, while 26 percent supported it.

Howell, a Libertarian, said in an interview yesterday that the appeal for donations was for a specific radio ad campaign designed to swing "no" votes to "yes" votes. Backers are hoping to shift 200,000 voters with the ads, the e-mail said. Howell did not say the group was running out of money but conceded, "We're not swimming in it."

Meanwhile yesterday, a business-funded watchdog group released a report indicating that passage of Question 1 would be detrimental to the city of Boston's ability to provide basic services, such as education and public safety.

The Boston Municipal Research Bureau predicted repealing the income tax would force the state to cut roughly $300 million in local aid to the city, a figure that represents 12 percent of Boston's annual operating budget.

"The cuts in local aid would fundamentally compromise the city's ability to provide essential and quality-of-life services to the residents and businesses it serves," said Samuel Tyler, president of the bureau, a Boston-based nonprofit group.

Nearly 85 percent of the city's $2.4 billion budget is allotted for schools, police, fire, public works, and mandatory expenses such as health insurance and debt payments. Leaving those expenses intact if Question 1 passes would require the elimination of every other city department, including the library, neighborhood community centers, services for the elderly, and the parks and transportation departments, the Research Bureau's analysis said.

"It's clearly unsupportable," Tyler said.

Last week, a report commissioned by Associated Industries of Massachusetts, Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, Massachusetts Business Roundtable, and the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation reached similar conclusions, saying the measure "goes too far." That report said repealing the income tax would force the state and cities and towns to raise other taxes and fees, including tolls, state college tuition, and property taxes, and ultimately make the state a less desirable place to live or do business. Supporters of Question 1 said yesterday that both reports were issued by groups that have a stake in keeping the income tax.

"All of these groups are funded by or represent financial corporations and other businesses that profit from high government spending," Howell said.

A similar ballot question in 2002 garnered 45 percent of the vote, only 6 percentage points short of passage.

Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com.