WalletHub Study Knocks "Return on Investment" From State Taxes

Following the release of a study from WalletHub analyzing states based on their return on investment (ROI) to taxpayers, the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance released the following statement on Massachusetts’s  poor ranking as the 9th worst state in the country. While Connecticut ranked 40th overall, neighboring New Hampshire came in for the top spot as the best state in the country for taxpayers to get a return on their tax dollar investment. Florida, came in as the 2nd best state.

“Anyone paying attention to the rapid bloat in our state budgets and to the capricious way lawmakers treat our hard earned tax dollars knew a low ranking was forthcoming. Our budgets are done almost entirely behind closed doors, are consistently late, and the money we do spend has increased at an unsustainable rate with little to no oversight. In recent months, this is perhaps best demonstrated by the no-bid contract the state signed spending $64 per person, per day just on food for migrants who have come to Massachusetts for our generous benefits after crossing over our open southern border. That’s $92,000 per year just on food for a family of four—the Commonwealth could hire each family a personal chef at that price. Even the perennial New England basket case, Connecticut, fared better in the rankings than Massachusetts,” noted Paul D. Craney, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance.

“Our low rankings in this taxpayer ROI study are just a symptom of the overall lack of competitiveness from our state on a regional and national level. It’s no shock that the top two states for people leaving Massachusetts—New Hampshire and Florida—are also the top two states for taxpayers to get the most bang for their taxpaying buck. If Massachusetts does want to actually reclaim any sort of economic competitiveness, it needs to get serious about tax cuts and tax eliminations and it needs to get serious about ensuring that residents are getting their money's worth for their tax paying investment. The best way to do that is to stop wasting our money on frivolous spending,” closed Craney.