Monday, December 15, 2003
Kriss Crinkles Revenue Message
Wait a minute. Eric "Human Triage" Kriss thinks that rising tax revenues will allow the Commonwealth to carry an extra $495 million into next fiscal year? (source: Boston Globe, 12/12/2003)
Then why was Kriss arguing that times were so tough the Commonwealth should restructure its unfunded pension liability payments by pushing the schedule back to 2028 and calculating the value of fund assets as of October 1 instead of January 1? (source: Boston Globe, 12/8/2003)
(And while he was at it, why didn’t Kriss suggest the fund be annually valued as of the date of its highest valuation? That would really goose the spreadsheets!)
We find it coincidental that almost one whole year ago, Kriss was crying that declining tax receipts were jeopardizing local aid payments, leading then-Gov. Jane Swift’s secretary of Administration and Finance to shrug that "The budget is in balance, Eric is just trying to err on the side of caution…. (source: Boston Globe, 12/17/2003)
And - surprise surprise - the Commonwealth ended FY2003 with a $133 million surplus. (source: Boston Globe, 7/8/2003)
So now what is going on in A&F? Is Kriss trying to err on the side of exuberance? Or has the 'time to make the Fraud Governor look good' budget phase begun already?
We figured that Team Reform had at least one more year of ‘worst economic times since the Great Depression’ press arrows left in their grotesque quiver.
Looks like the Fraud Governor is trying to 'find' new revenue so that he can pay for the $1 billion-dollar tax rollback he promised to deliver.
Wait a minute. Eric "Human Triage" Kriss thinks that rising tax revenues will allow the Commonwealth to carry an extra $495 million into next fiscal year? (source: Boston Globe, 12/12/2003)
Then why was Kriss arguing that times were so tough the Commonwealth should restructure its unfunded pension liability payments by pushing the schedule back to 2028 and calculating the value of fund assets as of October 1 instead of January 1? (source: Boston Globe, 12/8/2003)
(And while he was at it, why didn’t Kriss suggest the fund be annually valued as of the date of its highest valuation? That would really goose the spreadsheets!)
We find it coincidental that almost one whole year ago, Kriss was crying that declining tax receipts were jeopardizing local aid payments, leading then-Gov. Jane Swift’s secretary of Administration and Finance to shrug that "The budget is in balance, Eric is just trying to err on the side of caution…. (source: Boston Globe, 12/17/2003)
And - surprise surprise - the Commonwealth ended FY2003 with a $133 million surplus. (source: Boston Globe, 7/8/2003)
So now what is going on in A&F? Is Kriss trying to err on the side of exuberance? Or has the 'time to make the Fraud Governor look good' budget phase begun already?
We figured that Team Reform had at least one more year of ‘worst economic times since the Great Depression’ press arrows left in their grotesque quiver.
Looks like the Fraud Governor is trying to 'find' new revenue so that he can pay for the $1 billion-dollar tax rollback he promised to deliver.
