Somerville Aldermen speak out against proposed hotel tax changes

By Tom Nash For the second time in a month, Somerville aldermen are asking the state's two U.S. senators help keep revenue flowing to cities struggling through an economic downturn. At the board's first full meeting since passing next year's budget, Ward 2 Alderman Maryann Heuston said lobbyists for online travel agencies were working on Capitol Hill to hinder state's and localities from collecting their share of hotel taxes.

"Occasionally we have to pay attention to things that go on at a national level, because they affect us on a local level," she said. "If the federal government starts pre-exempting state and local tax laws, it sets a bad precedent."

The resolution drafted by Heuston will be sent to U.S. Senators John Kerry and Scott Brown, both of whom were asked last month by the board to keep unemployment benefits in place through November.