One of the primary issues Gov. Maura Healey ought to do is get Robert Kraft to remain in Massachusetts and never be a part of the exodus out of the state.
This is particularly pressing within the wake of the passage of the so-called “millionaire’s tax” that raises from 4% to 9% of the tax on earnings of over $1 million. The optics can be unhealthy for the brand new administration. The actuality is unhealthy for Kraft.
This is to not say that Kraft will be a part of the 46,000 Massachusetts residents who fled the high-tax state in 2021, with extra leaving in 2022.
But the query arises for the reason that billionaire proprietor of the New England Patriots, who not too long ago remarried, simply purchased an eye-popping $23.7 million penthouse in Palm Beach, a purchase order which set a file for the priciest apartment ever offered within the South Florida city.
The four-bedroom, 6,376-square-foot apartment has floor-to-ceiling home windows, and a pool, a cabana, library and a 1,300-square-foot terrace. The apartment sits straight on the seaside.
Kraft, 81, a widower, married Dr. Dana Blumberg, 47, in October, elevating hypothesis that Kraft may very well be becoming a member of hundreds of different Americans who’ve moved from high-tax states like Massachusetts to Florida.
Unlike Massachusetts, Florida has no state earnings tax, no inheritance and beneficiant exemptions for brand new homebuyers. To qualify as a resident, a brand new Floridian should reside within the state for six months and a day.
As it stands now, a billionaire like Kraft have to be one of many highest taxpayers within the state. He shall be hit even more durable below the brand new tax enhance which was permitted as a poll query within the final election.
Despite the state being awash in cash, voters purchased into the phony “Fair Share Amendment” argument that earnings from the brand new tax would go towards training and infrastructure.
The actuality is that the brand new tax income will go wherever the Democrat-controlled Legislature and new Gov. Mura Healey need it to go, and that signifies that it normally goes to paying for pet initiatives or pay raises for legislators.
Consider the absurdity of tax coverage in Massachusetts. The so-called millionaire tax is estimated to boost $1.3 billion. That is earlier than it can inevitably be scaled all the way down to cowl these making far much less.
This windfall for the state comes when former Gov. Charlie Baker, in a uncommon improvement, returned $3 billion to overtaxed taxpayers. He additionally left the state with a $5 billion funds surplus and beefed up the rainy-day fund by $7 billion.
The state has a lot cash it doesn’t know what to do with it, and now, because of the millionaire’s tax, it can get much more.
No marvel individuals are leaving for Florida, and the one new arrivals are the unlawful immigrants being bused or flown up from Florida and Texas.
There is a sliver of hope for some, although, relating to the brand new millionaire’s tax.
Veteran Secretary of State Bill Galvin, the one state-wide constitutional officer with any reminiscence, has proposed a carve-out of the brand new tax for aged owners promoting their properties.
These are individuals who purchased their house 20 years in the past and upon retirement discover that it’s now value $1 million. They technically could have $1 million one-time upon sale of the house, however they don’t seem to be millionaires who earn that a lot every year.
Asked if she would assist such a carve-out for the aged by a Herald reporter, Healy, in her typical platitudinal non-response to questions, stated “Whatever lands on my desk I’ll certainly take a close look at it.”
The new governor also needs to have a look at why individuals leaving the state and determine that the excessive value of residing in Taxachusetts has one thing to do with it.
Healey should carve out a while to speak to Kraft and ensure he stays. Massachusetts wants individuals like Kraft, a person who has most likely finished extra to carry the spirits of the individuals of Massachusetts than the final handful of governors.
It appears that the one completely happy occasions round right here come when the Patriots win the Super Bowl. And it received’t be this yr.
Peter Lucas is a veteran Massachusetts political reporter and columnist.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”