We are just a few months away from the 15th anniversary of the historic November, 2000, election when Massachusetts voters approved a referendum calling for the reduction of the state income tax rate from 5.95% to 5%. No doubt, most everyone who voted for the reduction believed it would happen quickly if the referendum was passed. But that was not to be. The legislature, fearing the devastating effects of an immediate .95% reduction on government programs and services and projects, exercised its prerogative to set the actual terms and schedule of the decrease. The result was a slow, incremental reduction linked to the overall performance of the Massachusetts economy. After fiscal years when the economy was strong and state revenue reached a certain benchmark, the rate would be reduced by .05% on January 1 of the next calendar year. That process has brought us to the present situation: an income tax rate of 5.15% and a required reduc...