Boston Council Committee Holds Small Commercial Tax Exemption Ordinance for Working Session

BOSTON — July 9, 2024 — Boston's City Council Committee on Government Operations heard two-plus hours of testimony on a proposed ordinance that would allow the city to adopt a state small commercial tax exemption for qualifying small businesses, but held the measure in committee pending a working session. Chair Gabriela Coletta Zapata and co-sponsor Enrique J. Pepén filed the ordinance, Docket 0925, to let Boston opt into Massachusetts General Law Chapter 59, Section 5I, which would exempt up to 10 percent of the value of commercial parcels assessed under $1 million and occupied by businesses averaging fewer than 10 employees. Chief Financial Officer Ashley Groffenberger, standing in for an absent assessing commissioner, said roughly 6,000 city properties fall within the threshold, current tax collections on those parcels run about $58 million, and a full exemption rollout would shift approximately $5.8 million of that burden to non-exempt commercial and industrial property owners — not cut city revenue outright. Groffenberger estimated full implementation would require five weeks of exclusive work from a fully staffed nine-person taxpayer assistance office that currently has six employees and three vacancies. Property owner and Massachusetts Package Stores Association board member Carlos Castillo told the committee the state's dual criteria — a $1 million property cap paired with a 10-employee limit, with no revenue consideration — "are not realistic" for Boston and create a disconnect that will prevent most intended beneficiaries from qualifying.