SouthCoastToday.com - Governor Discusses Gas Tax in Fall River Living Room

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SouthCoastToday.com - Governor Discusses Gas Tax in Fall River Living Room

By Jennifer Lade

Reporters packed themselves against an ornate fireplace, careful not to disturb the purple candles burning on the mantel. In the back of the room, a few lucky people settled into armchairs. TV camera crews and four or five photographers peeked in through the doorways to get a glimpse of Gov. Deval Patrick, given a seat of honor on a plush sofa jammed up against a curtained window.

Welcome to Bill and Deborah Kenney's living room.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Kenneys hosted the governor, along with dozens of concerned SouthCoast residents who crowded into their Florence Street home for a discussion of Patrick's plan to hike gasoline taxes by 19 cents per gallon.

People stashed their coats in the den, munched snacks and packed onto sofas to hear what the governor had to say about the tax hike he's been touting to pay for much-needed transportation projects.

But it quickly became clear that many of those gathered did not see things the governor's way.

Brenda Burke, a retiree from Westport, questioned why the rest of the state should have to pay to prevent toll hikes on the Massachusetts Turnpike and the Big Dig tunnels. Other residents called the proposed gas tax a "Boston bailout" that does little to ease the suffering in other parts of the state.

Some said the tax would cost them a few hundred dollars a year — an amount likened to the straw that broke the camel's back. A few feared business would be lost to neighboring states. Still others said they had hoped last fall's defeat of the income tax repeal would have prevented any new taxes.

Patrick turned the questions back to his audience.

"Tell me what the other way is," he demanded.

The governor explained that 6 cents of the 19-cent hike would go to projects outside of Boston, and 75 percent of the gas tax revenue will stay in the region where it was collected.

As to why the tax has to increase at all, he dangled the South Coast Rail in front of the group, saying eliminating spending on projects like that was another way to solve the issue.

"We can go on for another 20 years without South Coast Rail if you want to," he said.

Patrick also said reforms, not just the tax increase, are part of his plan. The governor's proposal would consolidate the agencies that deal with transportation, end a lucrative MBTA employee pension plan and begin to stop the practice of borrowing to pay salaries of 1,000 transportation personnel.

"I will not sign a bill that comes to me that increases the gas tax without those reforms," he told the group. But, he added, "we can't pay for the services you want through reforms alone."

Not everyone was happy as they left the meeting.

A gas station owner in Fall River said the tax hike would eliminate the edge he has over nearby Rhode Island vendors, whose gas tax is 7.5 cents higher than Massachusetts' 23.5-cent levy. He said he currently makes only 2 cents of profit on each gallon of gas he sells and had to cut his employees' pay from $10 an hour to $8 and eliminate Christmas bonuses.

In the spirit of compromise, some said they could live with a smaller tax hike; a 7-cent increase would be acceptable, for example, or 9.9 cents, because a two-digit increase would be psychologically difficult.

Robert A. Mellion, president and CEO of the Fall River Area Chamber of Commerce, said it is not just the gas tax but all of the higher levies — increases in hospitality and meals taxes, licensing fees and fee hikes at the Registry — that are forcing businesses to close their doors.

"It's just on and on and on and on ..." he said. "I'm worried that we're going to start getting very close to breaking the backs of a lot of groups."

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