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Boston residential property tax bills are projected to increase an average 13 percent starting in January, reflecting continuing declines in commercial valuations that pass the bill to homeowners.
After sharing preliminary assessment data, Mayor Michelle Wu appealed again for the state Legislature to approve a three-year shift in the city’s property tax structure, enabling a larger shift to the commercial sector.
“Residents should not have to subsidize and shoulder the burden for shifting national trends by subsidizing commercial tax bills,” Wu said during a media briefing Tuesday as the tax rate data heads to the City Council for approval this month.
Property taxes contribute nearly three-quarters of Boston’s $4.8 billion budget.
Residential properties’ share of the total tax levy are projected to rise from 41.7 percent to approximately 44 percent, according to the preliminary annual assessment data. Commercial properties – previously 58.3 percent of the tax levy – are expected to decline to 53.9 percent of overall tax collections.
“This will be the lowest share of the levy ever borne by commercial taxpayers in the 40-plus-year history of Proposition 2 ½,” Chief Financial Officer Ashley Groffenberger said.
The average single-family residential bill would increase $780. Average class A office properties’ bills would decrease 4.4 percent, or $210,000.
The preliminary data is subject to certification by the state Department of Revenue, followed by a vote of the City Council to set the tax rates beginning in the first quarter of 2026.
Mayor Renews Push for Tax Shift
Wu renewed lobbying for a three-year temporary exemption to state law that would allow a larger split between the commercial and residential rates. The Home Rule petition would lessen homeowners’ tax hikes while decreasing the rate of decline for many commercial properties that have lost occupancy in recent years. It also includes a provision exempting thousands of small businesses from personal property taxes.
“The legislation that we put forward and continue to advocate for would seek to really smooth that trend down over a period of years, as opposed to having these years of dramatic shifting of the burden from commercial to residential,” Wu said.
Representatives from Massachusetts Municipal Association, the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association and Meetinghouse Hill Civic Association in Dorchester all provided endorsements of Wu’s call for the Legislature’s approval of a three-year tax shift.
“I’m happy to pay my taxes to ensure we have high quality city services, but corporate land owners are not paying their fair share, and homeowners are hurting,” Meetinghouse Hill Civic Association President Shirley Jones said.
Wu rejected the notion of a budget cut, citing rising health care costs and inflationary pressures to maintain the same level of municipal services.
Wu urged a coalition of business groups that temporarily supported the Home Rule petition last year to lobby Beacon Hill for its approval. The groups included the NAIOP commercial developers’ association, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance and the Boston Municipal Research Bureau.
The groups asked for a delay in the bill’s passage in December 2024 after updated assessment data indicated the increases in residential tax bills wouldn’t be as severe as previously estimated.
