Proposition 2 1/2 is approved by Massachusetts voters.

The binding referendum question requires the state to asses property at 100% of its market values and limits the amount of revenue municipalities can raise through property taxes to 2 1/2% of total valuation and the increase those taxes can be raised each year to 2 1/2%. The measure passes in by a margin of 89,857 to 66,724. Its passage forces the city to reduce property tax revenue by almost 30% over the next two years and necessitates laying off 3,000 municipal employees, including police officers and firefighters, and closing police substations and firehouses. Although initially criticized by the Boston Globe, the newspaper subsequently calls it “The most powerful engine of change in recent Massachusetts history . . . [and the key to] the state’s amazing turnaround.”