ANALYSIS: Romney successfully closed a $3 billion budget gap in his first fiscal year as governor of Massachusetts.He succeeded in closing the shortfall without raising the state sales or income taxes — a notable accomplishment. But he also balanced the budget largely by cutting state aid to cities and towns, many of which responded by raising property taxes. In his first two years in office, Romney presided over a 15 percent cut in spending on unrestricted aid to cities and towns; he also cut more than 4 percent of funding for local schools.
Largely as a result, the average local property tax bill jumped more than $700 a year, or about 24 percent, to $3,962 from $3,206. by Megan Woolhouse, Globe Staff edited by Boston.com 10/17/2012 1:56:30 AM