On the message and order, referred on November 17, 2021 Docket #1182, relative to the adoption of classification in the City of Boston in Fiscal Year 2022, the committee submitted a report recommending the order ought to pass.
Docket number 1182? Councilor Bullock offered the following order relative to the adoption of classification in the city of Boston in fiscal year 2022. Thank you. The Chair recognizes the District Council from Beacon Hill Councilor Kenzie Box. The floor is yours. Thank you so much, Councilor O'Malley. I think as all councilors know, the city of Boston's revenue is mainly based on property taxes, about three quarters of our basis. And and that's obviously very important to funding everything that we do and talk about here. And also, it's something that this body continually discusses, especially with members of our community who might be property rich in the sense of having a house that's appreciated in value, but the seniors on a fixed income and otherwise, you know, have difficulty keeping up with the property taxes. And so that has been an ongoing challenge. And and over time, the city of Boston has taken a number of steps to try to relieve residential tax payers of of an undue burden. And it's really a pretty proud tradition. So actually, you know, originally by the state constitution, we were only able to have one tax rate across all types of property in the city. And it was actually the voters of Boston who led an effort to amend the state constitution to allow for what's called classification, which is the idea that you can have a different property tax rate on commercial as opposed to residential property, and it allows a certain shift of the if you sort of imagines that everything was taxed the same, then you can shift a certain amount such that the commercial rate is higher than the residential rate. And so that was a that was a success of the residents of Boston. Then again, in 2007, under the Menino administration, Boston went back to the state and successfully achieved the residential exemption, which people are probably familiar with, which exempts a certain initial amount of residential property from the taxation. So I just tell that history to say it's something that this body and the residents in leadership Boston's been intimately involved in because property tax law despite the fact it's our taxes is set at the state level. And so that classification capacity that we got ourselves a while back, we have to actually act on every year. And so the order that I have filed is in order to do that maximum shift of the burden away from our residential tax payers and onto the commercial taxpayers, which is something this Council has approved continuously year after year. And so which I am, I'm coming with again, it does need to be approved by early December. So I intend, as the chair of Ways and Means to hold a hearing on this. But I just want people to know that I will also be aiming to move on it at the next session. And so I would urge councilors who have an interest in the topic or questions and such to definitely make sure to attend that hearing. In the meantime, um, I will just say that I know that even with our existing, even with these existing tools, we have residential taxpayers who feel significantly burdened. And it's something I know, Councilor Flynn, that we were holding working sessions about in February, March. And I think it may be that the city of Boston needs to once again pursue tools at the state level to make that better, because the existing programs we have don't serve enough folks. And and I would just say what's going on in terms of why folks feel that the burden is rising, even we make these shifts is that assessed property values are going sat are rising faster on the residential side, in the commercial side, and in many respects the pandemic sort of deep into that because of the uncertainty about sectors of the commercial real estate market. So I say all that to say like there's still a conversation about other tools to have this tool classification is the biggest tool we have to bring relief to our residential taxpayers. And it is critical, in my view, that the city council continue our tradition of of maximizing that shift. So that's what this order would do and we'll discuss it in a hearing. But I do. Mr. President, I hope to be back with a committee report on it by our next meeting. So thank you. Thank you very much, Councilor Bach. With anyone else wish to speak on Docket 1182. Would any councilors wish to add their name as a co-sponsor to talk of one on eight to Mr. Clarke, please add. Councilor Arroyo. Councilor Baker. Councilor Braden. Councilor Campbell. Councilor Edwards. Councilor B George. Councilor Flaherty. Councilor Flan Councilor me here please add the chair and docket 118 to will be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means. Mr. Clarke, would you please read docket.