Senate President Karen Spilka reacted sharply after Boston Mayor Michelle Wu suggested Boston homeowners would have the Senate to blame if state lawmakers don’t pass her proposal to temporarily hike the city’s commercial property tax rate.
A temporary shift in Boston’s tax structure would hike commercial properties’ tax bills by 17 percent in fiscal 2025 while reducing their cumulative value by $2.6 billion, according to an analysis of future real estate conditions.
With all due respect, one wonders whether the mayor’s CFO is living in the same world as the rest of us in day-to-day contact with the business of real estate and development.
The value of Boston’s taxable real estate rose 78 percent to $164.5 billion between 2013 and 2019, spurred by new growth that accounted for 60 percent of new property tax revenues collected in fiscal 2019.
