"Fresh off a dominant reelection bid, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is gearing up for a renewed test of her political capital. This week, Wu restarted her public push to shift more of the city's tax burden onto commercial real estate in order to provide savings for residential homeowners. This effort has been stymied by state lawmakers twice already. Now, Wu is hoping that the third time is the charm on Beacon Hill."
"Boston is heavily reliant on property taxes, which fund about 70% of the city's budget. When the COVID-19 pandemic caused high office vacancy rates, commercial property values began to fall and residential property values rose. Over the past few years, a number of other factors have continued this trend. As a result, residential property owners were hit by a sharp spike in their property taxes to make up the difference."
"Wu needs state approval to alter Boston's property tax formula, a system she described Wednesday as "very strict and rigid" during an appearance on the " Java with Jimmy " show. Wu says that her goal is to decrease the tax break for commercial property owners while blunting the impact of another tax spike for residential property owners. In fiscal year 2026, current projections show that overall residential property values will increase by 2% while overall commercial values will decrease by 6%."
Boston aims to shift a greater share of property taxation onto commercial real estate to ease rising burdens on residential homeowners. The city relies on property taxes for about 70% of its budget. Pandemic-driven office vacancies and other factors have lowered commercial values while residential values have risen, forcing homeowners to absorb higher taxes. The average single-family homeowner faced a 10.4% increase last year and could see a projected 13% hike next year. State approval is required to change the tax formula, and previous attempts failed twice in the State House.
Read at Boston.com
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