Companies and Residents Face “Greater Property Taxes Than Obligatory”
With property tax and mayoral election debates already underway in Boston, a high enterprise chief plans Tuesday night time to induce Mayor Michelle Wu and the Metropolis Council to gradual spending development and faucet reserves for strategic priorities with out implementing finances cuts.
The order authorizing the Methods and Means Committee’s finances listening to states that Wu is anticipated to announce the fiscal 2026 finances on April 9, with closing council motion on it anticipated June 25. Town finances this yr weighed in at greater than $4.64 billion.
In testimony launched Tuesday, Higher Boston Chamber of Commerce President James Rooney mentioned he was providing an “employer perspective” and listed three themes that he mentioned would constrain the finances this yr: “basic adjustments” to metropolis revenues, uncertainty over the provision of federal funds, and “lack of latest business sector development.”
Metropolis spending grew 8.1%, 6.8% and 5.9% within the final three fiscal years, Rooney mentioned, calling these charges “unsustainable” and asking for a 3-4% enhance.
Companies and residents face “greater property taxes than needed,” and spending ranges are rising strain for the town to boost new revenues and forcing it to show to the state for assist, Rooney mentioned.
Citing shifting work patterns, excessive rates of interest and “burdensome” rules, Rooney urged the town to “refocus on encouraging business growth and downtown vitality,” noting that budgeted metropolis income from property tax collections elevated from 55.9% in FY 2006 to 71.1% in FY 2025.
“In a few years over that interval, new property tax development fueled by business growth helped offset the impacts of this reliance on property taxes on residents,” Rooney mentioned. “Nonetheless, current developments present that our business growth market development has slowed, whereas business property values have total decreased. The downtown workplace emptiness charge sits at 20.2% within the Monetary District, reflecting adjustments in workplace demand attributable to distant work choices and new workforce preferences.”
