To the Editor,

Each year Newton suffers through an unhappy debate about what we need to cut from our school budget.

That’s one legacy of Proposition 2 ½, the limit on property taxes that has been slowly choking down the real dollars available to Massachusetts cities and towns since the 1980s.

The Question 5 tax ballot initiative in next month’s election also would inflict reductions, but on a state level. Its limits on state funding would particularly damage our ability to respond to major crises such as the COVID pandemic.

We’d all really like to pay less taxes. But we also want to live in a healthy society that can fund schools that meet the needs of our children and fire departments that can answer alarms.

Please check out Question 5—and vote No.

Eric Bender
Newton Centre