All good points Bill, though the property taxes in MA are controlled by what they call Proposition 2.5 where property taxes cannot be raised more than 2.5% without a vote by the population in a special referendum. A 300K home is probably taxed at an average of 14 or 15 mil rate in the cities and 8 to 14 in outlying communities. Do the math!
Anyways, what MA is doing is controlling literally everything. The State controls what utilities, insurance, telephone, gas, cell phones, et al can charge. It is purely a socialist community, without even trying to hide it. It is in the preamble of their constitution.
They don't care what the people want, they will continue along the lines of socialism until hell freezes over. Even the RNC is a joke here, look at Romney, Scott Brown, any number of "so-called" conservatives.
The birthplace of the original tea party is not even a shell of what once existed.