Back at the State House seeking approval for a time-sensitive plan to temporarily alter the division of property tax burden between commercial and residential owners, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu found herself Wednesday explaining and defending her administration’s approach to budgeting.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu Tuesday announced that a planned housing accelerator fund for investing in housing developments will grow in size.
Next time it may not be so easy for Boston’s mayor. And given current market trends, not only will there almost certainly be a next time, and it won’t be long in coming, either.
The deal between Mayor Michelle Wu and four business groups will see commercial property tax rates rise, but not by as much as previously feared.
Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn dramatically scuppered attempts to bring a last-minute compromise on city commercial property tax rates up for a vote Wednesday afternoon. Councilors plan to meet Friday to take another vote.
Boston commercial property tax rates will be going up next year to help ease homeowners’ tax bills, but not by as much and not for as long as business groups had originally feared.
A business coalition offered a compromise deal Friday that would have seen property taxes on commercial buildings rise, but by less than what Boston’s mayor wanted.
Gone unnoticed amid all the heated debate are signs that the underlying problem – the decline in office building values – may be even more serious than first thought.
The good news is that Boston’s 2025 tax revenue crisis may not be as bad as some have feared. The bad news is office values may have further to fall.
Updated assessment data from Boston City Hall shows a smaller projected increase in residential property taxes in 2025, but Mayor Michelle Wu is still lobbying for legislation shifting a larger portion of the tax levy onto commercial properties.
Developers and real estate executives weren’t tapping furiously at their keyboards and burning up my phone line in praise of the mayor’s announcement of a $100 million “Housing Acceleration Fund.”
The city of Boston is exploring how to create a $100 million fund to invest in permitted housing projects, Mayor Michelle Wu told the city’s business elite Wednesday morning.
Pointing to the doldrums in which housing development has been stuck, industry group NAIOP Massachusetts asked the Wu administration to delay next week’s implementation of higher affordability requirements.
The Boston Zoning Commission Chair was removed by Mayor Michelle Wu just a month after the board failed to approve new regulations discouraging the use of fossil fuel building systems in new developments.
Boston Mayor Wu is holding out hope that she can get Senate President Karen Spilka to come around to her proposal to temporarily increase the tax rate for Boston’s commercial property owners.
In a fresh statement this week, Spilka’s spokesperson said, “Mayor Wu and the Senate President spoke last week about the proposal. The Senate President and the Senate are committed to creating good and smart policy, and to that end, remain open to continuing conversations with the City of Boston and other stakeholders.”
As Boston’s economy adapts to the post-pandemic working and living environment, Jim Rooney has been an outspoken critic of threats to the region’s economic competitiveness, from problems with the T to office vacancies.
Senators be aware: If you get a call from a 617 phone number in the coming days, it could be Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.
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.
After meeting with Boston’s delegation of state legislators Monday, Mayor Michelle Wu said she’s holding out hope that her plan to shift the city’s property tax burden to avoid a residential tax hike could pass through the State House before a quickly approaching deadline.
