Boston City Council Committee Advances Home Rule Petition to Ease Residential Tax Burden

BOSTON — October 29, 2024 — Boston City Council committee advances property tax home rule petition after nine months of negotiations. Chair Gabriela Coletta Zapata told colleagues she would bring Mayor Michelle Wu's home rule petition to a full council vote October 30, following a three-hour public hearing that drew a large turnout from Mass Senior Action members. The petition asks the state legislature to temporarily raise the maximum commercial-to-residential property tax shift from 175 percent to 181.5 percent in FY25, stepping down to 180 percent and then 178 percent before returning to 175 percent in FY28 — a narrowed version of the administration's original proposal, which sought a 200 percent ceiling over five years. Chief Financial Officer Ashley Groffenberger said achieving the same residential tax relief through spending cuts alone would require eliminating roughly $265 million from the city budget, and that no Boston mayor has ever declined to collect the full Proposition 2.5 levy. The petition also authorizes the council to triple the city's personal property tax exemption from $10,000 to $30,000, which would exempt roughly 4,700 of the city's 9,500 businesses subject to that tax, and to appropriate up to $15 million per year in direct relief to small businesses with under 50 employees and under $5 million in revenue.