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Boston Mayor Michelle Wu flatly rejected a legal aid group’s claim that the city is raising assessments on commercial landlords that appeal their valuations to a state board.
The Pioneer New England Legal Foundation this week asked for an investigation by the state Department of Revenue, citing adjustments to valuations of specific properties that have filed appeals with the state Appellate Tax Board.
“It is completely false that it is about a retaliatory payment or anything like that,” Wu said following a forum sponsored by Associated Industries of Massachusetts Thursday morning.
The Boston tax assessment department routinely adjusts valuations of properties in response to additional information about property characteristics, Wu said.
The adjustments are not related to “ATB” notations on assessment cards that indicate a property owner is appealing their valuation to the state, Wu said.
“The city has started making notes in the documents so everyone is on the same page about why something has been adjusted or not adjusted,” Wu said. “The process of going through to the ATB can take some time, and in the meantime, sometimes the city will make adjustments despite the ongoing [ATB] dispute. Most of the time that is when there are facts in question… and we had our numbers wrong.”
Earlier in the morning, during a question-and-answer forum with AIM CEO Brooke Thomson, Wu sought to reassure business executives that Boston remains an attractive location to relocate or expand.
Under Wu, the Boston Planning Department launched its first-ever updates to the Article 80 zoning code which applies to large and midsized developments. A series of neighborhood rezoning initiatives known as Squares + Streets seeks to encourage multifamily housing development while eliminating the need for projects to seek zoning variances.
Both initiatives are designed to make projects’ path to approval more predictable, Wu said.
“Let’s be clear what the standards are, raise the standards, and if you meet them, just go,” Wu said.
Broader quality of life issues – from reliable public transportation to public safety and affordable child care – also factor into Boston’s competitiveness, Wu said. She attributed the city’s decline in gun violence to summer job programs and expansion of early childhood education programs.
