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| By G. Michael Dobbs Managing Editor SPRINGFIELD State Treasurer Timothy Cahill fulfilled a campaign promise on August 15 by opening an office for the State Board of Retirement in Springfield to serve the needs of state retirees in the four western counties. The office is in Room 109 A at the state office building at 436 Dwight St. *** Before a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony, Cahill told Reminder Publications the new office would prevent the need of the approximate 20,000 state retirees in western Massachusetts from having to come to Boston for business with the Board of Retirement. Cahill envisions using the office space to eventually house western Massachusetts branches of some of the other state services he oversees. The state's fiscal picture is "far better" now than it was in 2003, Cahill said, and there could be a $1 billion surplus. He is concerned about some "structural issues in the budget." He explained there are some revenue enhancers, such as proceeds from capital gains taxes, that are not always repeatable that could lead to revenue downturns in the future. Unlike several gubernatorial candidates, Cahill does not believe the state income tax can not be rolled back to five percent at this time. The proposed reduction of .3 percent would mean a decrease of at least $500 million, he said. Since the state has made a "significant commitment" to healthcare, Cahill said the result could be cuts to local aid. He believes that once the state reaches pre-2003 local aid levels should the subject of an income tax rollback should be revisited. Commenting on the status of the Big Dig, Cahill said he didn't have great confidence that additional funds to repair the project won't come from the "pockets of the toll payer and tax payer." He is concerned about how the state will pay for other road and bridge projects since getting money back from the companies that built the Big Dig is "years down the road." He said the $81 million the federal government was to contribute to the project still hasn't been delivered to the state after a two-year wait. He hopes the Governor Mitt Romney will get to the bottom of the situation and will do what he can to help him. Although Cahill said he would abide with whatever decision the Legislature makes, he is still against casino gambling in the Commonwealth. He added, though, he would do whatever was necessary to protect state lottery revenues if casinos were approved for the state. He said the lottery returned $950 million in revenue to cities and towns last year that constituted a third consecutive record year. He believes that Massachusetts has the most profitable lottery system per capita than any other state in the nation. The reason for the profitability, he explained, is the low overhead. The lottery relies on the 7,000 lottery agents who receive a flat commission of five percent of the sales. One good sign of a long-range economic recovery is Cahill said the state has seen some job growth for the first time since 2001. Retirement counselors and representatives of the Massachusetts Deferred Compensation "SMART" Plan will be available at the new office on a walk-in basis Monday through Friday from 8:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call the office at 730-6135. |