Brian Shortsleeve for Massachusetts BOSTON, MA — Brian Shortsleeve, Republican candidate for governor, issued the following statement after the Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates advanced a Home Rule Petition authorizing a new regional real estate transfer tax:
“Families on Cape Cod and across Massachusetts are already being crushed by the cost of living, the housing crisis, and one of the highest state tax burdens in the country. The last thing they need is another tax layered on top of it.
“Let’s be honest about how we got here. Maura Healey has exploded state spending by tens of billions of dollars. She has taken billions from struggling taxpayers to provide free housing, free health care, free meals, and free transportation to migrants, and Beacon Hill has shifted the financial pressure onto cities and towns. By denying sufficient funding for local aid, Healey forces property tax increases. Homeowners and renters end up paying the bill.
“Help is on the way. As governor, I will restore fiscal discipline, end the reckless spending, prioritize citizens and legal residents, and restore local aid so communities are not forced to balance the books on the backs of property taxpayers.”