Patrick unveils aid plan, support

Making an early play for the crucial support of local officials, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Deval L. Patrick unveiled a six-page plan yesterday to help financially strapped cities and towns and announced that six mayors of major communities have already endorsed him.

Among the proposals, Patrick wants the state to allow local officials to raise revenue on their own through a restaurant meals tax or other sources and have the state set aside a fixed percentage of its annual tax revenue for cities and towns.

The endorsements are from the mayors of Somerville, Northampton, Cambridge, Taunton, Salem, and Pittsfield, whose support could be important in Democratic caucuses early next month and in the rest of this year's campaign.

''Deval gets it," said Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone of Somerville. ''He understands the need for a partnership between the state and municipalities in order for them to meet the challenges they are faced with."

With the campaign heating up, Patrick's rivals for the corner office insist that they, too, will address the anxieties of voters concerned about rising property taxes and cuts in schools, police departments, and public works. The candidates say they are well-suited to help local officials tackle those problems.

Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, the leading Republican candidate, has earned favorable reviews as Governor Mitt Romney's liaison to cities and towns, and Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly, a Democrat, touts his own relationships with mayors and city managers.

''I have partnered with cities and towns throughout my career to keep our streets and schools safe, clean up brownfields, increase affordable housing, and reduce insurance costs," Reilly said.

Corey Welford, a Reilly campaign spokesman, said that the attorney general will release his own plan in the coming months, but that he does not support the idea of allowing cities and towns to levy a restaurant meals tax.

Patrick touted his proposal ahead of the Massachusetts Municipal Association's annual meeting, which all three candidates for governor are expected to attend tomorrow. Today, Romney will address the group, and he is expected to announce a ''substantial" increase in state aid to cities and towns.

There is general agreement among local officials and policymakers on Beacon Hill that many cities and towns are facing serious financial pressures. But there are differing views on the causes.

Most local officials point to two culprits: stagnant state aid for government functions other than schools and fast-growing healthcare costs that are largely beyond communities' control. Many argue that the state would have more money to send to cities and towns if it hadn't cut state income taxes during the economic boom of the late 1990s. Patrick says the income tax cuts have forced local officials to raise property taxes to make up the difference.

Patrick and Reilly accuse Healey and the Romney administration of doing little to help municipalities.

''I like Kerry Healey, and I hear from local officials that she's been very attentive to them," Patrick said. ''But the fact is that the administration has not delivered. I'll deliver."

Reilly said that ''under Kerry Healey's leadership, there has been a complete disconnect between state and local government."

But at a State House hearing this week, Romney said that the state largely protected local aid even as it slashed $3 billion from its budget several years ago. He also said local property tax revenue has been far more stable than the state's tax revenue.

Before leaving office in October, Romney administration budget chief Eric A. Kriss said that local officials who blame the state are ''completely missing the picture." He said cities and towns have created their own problems by signing overly generous contracts with public employees, failing to take steps to control employee healthcare costs, and blocking development that could spur tax revenue.

The administration also says it helped local officials by revamping public construction laws to make it easier for them to get the best prices. To help cities and towns manage their expenses more prudently, the state recently unveiled an Internet-based guide that tabulates the financial liabilities and expected revenue of each community to produce a ''municipal stability factor," or the salary hike that local officials can afford.

Geoff Beckwith, executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association, said that helping cities and towns ''has to be one of the central issues of the campaign."

''Cities and towns are facing fiscal problems that are growing," he said. ''Property taxes are up, and our economic recovery has slowed down. We won't be able to address any of those issues until the issues of local aid and revenue-sharing are front and center."

Scott Greenberger can be reached at greenberger@globe.com.