MARBLEHEAD — Barbara Anderson, whose single-minded opposition to tax increases has influenced Massachusetts cities and towns for three decades, is running short of money and may be on the verge of involuntary retirement.
"I'm fed up," she said yesterday.
Anderson, executive director of Citizens for Limited Taxation, is citing a slump in donations as the key factor in the likely closing of the Marblehead-based operation. CLT has already lasted more than 30 years, longer than most grass-roots movements, she said. Many original supporters have simply died off.
"We're still here for another six weeks," said Anderson, who is also a Salem News columnist. A fundraising brunch is scheduled for Nov. 15, she said, and the organization's fate hinges on strong returns from the event.
In 1980, Anderson spearheaded the drive to pass Proposition 21âÑ2, a statewide measure limiting the ability of cities and towns to raise property taxes beyond 21âÑ2 percent per year. It won despite dire predictions of economic chaos.
Today, legislators as diverse ideologically as Senate Majority Leader Fred Berry, D-Peabody, and state Rep. Brad Hill, R-Ipswich, who represents Manchester, agree that Proposition 21âÑ2 will survive even without Anderson's lobbying efforts.
"I think there are enough citizens up there to keep an eye on 21âÑ2," Hill said. Yet, he added, Anderson's value has been to fight back on several fronts against a tax burden that is crippling the economy and driving people from the state.
For example, in 2000 she led a successful ballot measure to roll back state income taxes — although the Legislature declined to fully implement it.
"Barbara Anderson is the best," Hill said.
Even if Proposition 21âÑ2 remains untouched, Berry believes Anderson's absence will have an impact.
"I don't agree with Barbara on much," he said. "But I always respected her leadership abilities."
On the other hand, he added, "She's not the focal point anymore. ... So many other voices are carrying the same message."
Berry, who was in office when Proposition 21âÑ2 passed, cited the efforts of the Legislature and then-Gov. Ed King in providing state aid that helped cities and towns — and Proposition 21âÑ2 itself — survive.
Citing the current difficulty in passing tax-limit overrides needed by cash-starved cities and towns, Berry joked that he won't attend the CLT brunch.
A sometimes frustrated Anderson explained yesterday that efforts to expand the organization's base have met with indifference, despite the savings brought by 21âÑ2.
"So many businessmen are afraid to be seen in public with us," she said. "We are so hated and so controversial on Beacon Hill. ... For 30 years, I ran around to these business groups, and they never join. They just take us for granted."
They aren't the only ones. A pilot fundraising effort targeting Danvers residents, for example, did not generate enough money to pay for the cost of the mailing.
Misinformation has also been a barrier. A potential donor explained that he would not back CLT because it supports a graduated income tax, Anderson complained. It doesn't. "Where did he get that idea?"
Worse, she said, "people — surprisingly — sometimes think we're funded by the government."
With four employees, including Anderson, CLT runs on $140,000 per year. Anderson, who collects Social Security, pays herself $10 an hour. Programs and legal bills can add to the costs. She contrasts CLT with the more tax-friendly Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, whose director, she says, earns a salary greater than her entire budget.
Anderson cites her own home, with unfinished shutters on one side, as an example of her pay-as-you-go attitude. "I don't go into debt for anything. I have no credit card debt." Similarly, she declines to run CLT without money on hand.
More than 4,000 CLT members gave $270,000 in 2007, while 3,500 gave $245,000 last year. So far this year, fewer than 3,000 contributors have given roughly $175,000.
Opposition to taxes and government is centered around Washington, and not Beacon Hill, Anderson said. "The national debt is the biggest problem in our country's history, except maybe the Civil War."
Alan Burke may be contacted at aburke@gloucestertimes.com.
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