Boston Council Examines Neighborhood Financing Tool for Roxbury, Dorchester

BOSTON -- March 16, 2023, Boston City Council hears case for first-ever district improvement financing districts in Roxbury and Dorchester. The Committee on Planning, Development, and Transportation, chaired by District 3 Councilor Frank Baker, convened Thursday to examine two dockets, 0379, sponsored by District 7 Councilor Tanya Fernandez-Anderson for a Roxbury DIF, and 0413, covering the Kosciuszko Circle-to-Morrissey Boulevard corridor, with no votes taken. Kevin Galvin, vice president at Accordia Partners and developer of the Dorchester Bay City project, projected that a proposed DIF district on Columbia Point could grow from roughly $6 million in current annual property taxes to approximately $150 million annually at full buildout, supporting a bond of roughly $100 million. Chief Financial Officer Ashley Grafenberger and Commissioner of Assessing Nick Garnello cautioned that DIF districts carve taxing capacity away from the city as a whole and that Boston's triple-A bond rating makes general obligation financing cheaper. Community advocates Bridget Wallace and Philip Barish, both appearing via Zoom, described four years of Boston Foundation-backed research into a community-centered Roxbury DIF focused on affordable housing, arts and culture, and workforce development, and Fernandez-Anderson argued that Roxbury, with the second-lowest homeownership rate in Boston, cannot afford to wait through another multi-year capital planning cycle.