‘It's Taxachusetts': Belichick fuels debate over Massachusetts millionaires tax

Sports and politics, they're never really that far apart in Massachusetts.

Supporters of the new surtax on wealthier Massachusetts households have been cheering the investments in education and transportation that it's triggered.

But this week, fiscal conservatives are applauding fresh comments from former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who said the tax is influencing pro sports rosters, with player agents using it as a "sledgehammer" in negotiations.

"It's Taxachusetts," Belichick said, drawing laughs Monday from Pat McAfee and A.J. Hawk during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. "They take more from you."

Barreling into his new life as an out-of-work coach and commentator, Belichick was opining Monday on the variables that players and teams face when weighing career moves, trades, signings, and the off-the-field factors than can play a role in decision-making.

It was at that point in the interview that Belichick brought up "the millionaire's tax," as he called it, referring to the new 4% tax on household income above $1 million per year that Massachusetts voters approved after Democrats pushed it to the ballot in 2022.

The surtax, which comes on top of the state's flat 5% tax on all income above $8,000, generated $2.2 billion in fiscal 2024. It drove most of the 8.6% growth in tax receipts for the year, pulling more money from CEOs and other big earners like Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics, but also from a slew of lower-profile wealthy families.

Belichick surfaced the tax issue when talking about CeeDee Lamb, who this week signed a four-year $136 million contract extension that will enable him to stay with the Dallas Cowboys and become one of the highest-paid wide receivers in the NFL.

"Dallas is a pretty good situation," Belichick said. "Got a great quarterback, got a good team, got a lot going for you. Does he want as much money as possible? Yeah, of course. But is it really worth it to go out of town to wherever and not be playing in the environment and the opportunity that he has there in Dallas? A decision you have to make as a player, like ... you want to try to get as much as you can from the team you want to be with. If you're already on that team, then how much is it really worth by the time you move, you know, pay your 50 percent tax, or your millionaire's tax in New England, you got that one too. You know, what's really a differential?"

Hawk picked up on Belichick's comment, asking, "What's that millionaire's tax about. Is it strictly New England or what?"

The Hall of Fame-bound Belichick noted that even some of the lowest-paid NFL players have to weigh income surtax impacts.

"Once you hit that million-dollar threshold, then you pay more state tax in Massachusetts," he said. "It's just another thing you've got to contend with in negotiations up there. It's not like Tennessee or Florida or Nevada, or some of these teams have no state income tax. So you get hit pretty hard on that with the agents. They'll come and sledgehammer you down about the taxes they're paying."

McAfee responded, saying, "That's good business ... for Massachusetts and from the agents. But you're right. That was why when these destination teams start popping up, it's like if you're in Florida or Texas or Tennessee ... that's good bartering. That's couple hundred thousand. Hey, that's a lot of money here. Now we all want to pay our fair share. Where's it going? I would like to learn that."

The $57.8 billion fiscal 2025 state budget that Gov. Maura Healey signed in July appropriated about $1.3 billion from the income surtax, with $761 million allocated for education $539 million for transportation. Surplus fiscal 2024 surtax funds still need to be allocated.

In addition to making community college free for anyone to attend, the planned fiscal 2025 surtax spending included $170 million to make school meals free for all K-12 students, $80 million for higher education scholarships, and $278 million for early education and care -- an attempt to enable more families to afford the costs of child care and more parents to be able to work.

The transportation investments made using surtax dollars include funds to allow low-income individuals to pay half-price MBTA fares, to make rides free on regional transit systems, and to leverage infrastructure investments, municipal road repairs and MBTA hiring.

Many of the investments are designed to make it more affordable for people to live in Massachusetts or address the state's transportation problems, including congestion and unreliable public transit. The state's high costs are repeatedly cited as a reason for people moving, which could pose a threat to the state's financial picture.

The dynamics have created a policy tightrope for state officials to walk. High costs and tax rates loom as dangers to the competitiveness, but glaring affordability problems and infrastructure issues also cry out for a strong and often costly response from government.

While the surtax was passed by voters at the ballot, Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance spokesman Paul Craney said "there's no defense" for it.

"This is just another concrete example of how the income surtax amendment punishes excellence and makes it difficult for the state to recruit top tier talent," Craney said. "In this case it’s the New England Patriots, but it could apply equally to any other highly productive professional field. Massachusetts businesses and industries now start off with a 9% deficit when looking to recruit top talent versus no income tax states."

He suggested that people might get Beacon Hill's attention if they "start blaming them for the Patriots losses."

Andrew Farnitano, a spokesman for the Raise Up Massachusetts coalition, responded to Craney's points by saying that "multimillionaire athletes and CEOs can easily afford the extra 4 percent tax."

"Any real Boston sports fan could tell you that the Pats were failing to sign top-tier players for years before 2023, when the Fair Share Amendment took effect," Farnitano said in a statement to the News Service on Wednesday. "The millionaires tax certainly didn't prevent the Celtics from putting together the best team in the NBA last year, and resigning nearly the entire roster to record contracts."

Noting the investments in free community college and regional bus service, school meals, child care, and road and bridge repairs, Farnitano said the new tax "is making a real difference with the biggest competitive challenge Massachusetts faces: the high cost of living for low-income and middle-class families."