The minority leaders of the state House of Representatives and Senate fired a salvo at Gov. Deval Patrick following the conclusion of the legislative session Thursday for failing to follow through on a campaign promise to bring property tax relief.

In a statement released early Friday morning, Senate [img_assist|nid=247|title=State Sen. Richard Tisei (R-Wakefield)|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=127|height=180]Minority Leader Richard Tisei (R-Wakefield) and House Minority Leader Brad Jones (R-North Reading) said Patrick (D-Milton) failed to fulfill his campaign pledge.

"During his campaign for governor, Patrick's most appealing message to the voters of Massachusetts was his pledge to deliver property tax relief to all residents," Tisei said. "But here we are at the end of the legislative session, and not only have we not enacted anything to alleviate the property tax burden, but the governor has failed to even provide us with a plan for doing so. It has been very disappointing."

The governor's office, in turn, said Patrick has worked to help Bay State residents cope with the property tax. "The governor has taken steps to help communities reduce the pressure on the property tax, including allowing cities and towns join the state's health insurance and retirement programs," said Kyle Sullivan, Patrick's spokesman.

Sullivan highlighted several measures Patrick has proposed but acknowledged that ultimately they were not passed this session.

"Over the last year and a half," he said, "the governor has proposed several other measures--including other provisions in the Municipal Partnership Act, a repeal of the telecom tax exemption, and an expansion of the property tax circuit breaker--that would provide property tax relief to homeowners. Unfortunately, those ideas were not adopted during this legislative session. He will continue to push for property tax relief going forward."

[img_assist|nid=119|title=Rep. Brad Jones Jr. (R-North Reading)|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=128|height=180]Even with those proposals, said House Minority Leader Jones (R-North Reading), Patrick didn't get the job done.

"Property tax relief was a staple of the governor's campaign and yet here we are, almost half way through his term, providing no relief to our constituents who are facing some of the toughest economic times in recent history," Jones said. "It's time to relieve some of the tax burden the hard-working taxpayers of the commonwealth are facing, but instead we continue to raise taxes and even create new ones."