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FALSE ECONOMY
To save money, the state cuts funds to the agency that helps it ... collect money
BY SETH GITELL

In these dire fiscal times, library cutbacks are a fact of life. We have taken note, for example, that the UMass system has sliced funding for libraries (see "The Year of Living Painfully," News and Features, May 17). Still, it’s hard to imagine that these tough financial straits would cause government officials to slash the budget of a library that actually helps the state take in more revenue. But they’re doing exactly that.

Mark D. Trachtenberg, the librarian at the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, says his facility, too, is struggling under budget cuts. "We are canceling many of our subscriptions to business-related periodicals because of the state’s budget cutbacks," Trachtenberg writes in an e-mail. "I am concerned that our auditors may be unable to find information which they need to do their jobs because of these cutbacks."

Auditors are currently relying on a copy of the Wall Street Journal Trachtenberg brings in from home, says the librarian in an interview. He expects that the Boston Business Journal subscription that expires in June will not be renewed. Even a vital publication such as the "Alcoholic Beverage Guide" — which signals to auditors what beverages are considered alcoholic and, thus, taxable — is on the chopping block.

Moves such as this are "self-defeating," Trachtenberg remarks. Chalk them up to the hidden costs of budget deficits.

Issue Date: May 30 - June 6, 2002
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