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Mayor Wu takes her fight for property tax shift plan to its critics
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One of those giant Joro spiders has officially come to town. Remember, they’re pretty much harmless to humans, though that hasn’t stopped the colorful, jumping spider from creating a stir. (More photos here.)
Now, to the news:
From City Hall to Beacon Hill: Boston Mayor Michelle Wu hasn’t given up hope on her property tax shift proposal just yet. According to Politico, Wu is scheduled to meet privately with Massachusetts state senators today to discuss the proposal, even as business leaders continue to lobby the Senate to hold the line against it. Wu’s proposal — which would temporarily shift more of the city’s property tax burden from homeowners to businesses — was passed by the House this summer. But the Senate never took it up, leading to some rare public bickering between the mayor and Senate leaders.
- Today’s meeting also comes after Wu defended the plan directly to its most vocal critics yesterday during a Q&A with the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. “Obviously you all know every day that if our residents were to have a sudden shock of increase in housing costs that would be incredibly disruptive for your workforce and for your customer base,” Wu said.
- Remind me, what is this all about again? State law limits how much cities can adjust their residential and commercial property tax rates. As a result, Wu says a decline in the property value for many Boston office buildings due to remote work could force the city to hike property taxes for homeowners in 2025 (by as much as 33%). So, she’s seeking State House approval for some flexibility to increase rates on businesses to prevent more drastic hikes for residents.
- What’s the alternative? The city could cut its budget or dip into its reserves to lessen the tax hike, the chamber and other business groups have argued. However, Wu says the scale of budget cuts needed would seriously undermine city services and that rainy day funds should be saved for recessions or depressions. “This is an allocation problem, not a revenue problem,” she said yesterday. (Wu gets more in the weeds on the issue in this Substack post.)
- In other news: Wu told WBUR’s Morning Edition she’s “conflicted” on the ballot question to lift the MCAS graduation requirement. Check out the highlights of the interview here.
Meanwhile on Capitol Hill: Steward Health Care CEO Ralph De la Torre may face criminal prosecution. In a unanimous vote yesterday, the full U.S. Senate moved to refer criminal contempt charges to the Justice Department for De la Torre’s refusal to testify about the company’s bankruptcy before a Senate committee earlier this month. If found guilty, De la Torre could face prison time.
- It’s not every day the Senate asks prosecutors to pursue criminal contempt charges. “The Senate has not made a criminal contempt referral in 50 years,” Sen. Ed Markey said yesterday. “It is a rare move for the rare degree of callousness, cruelty and cowardliness that Dr. de la Torre has demonstrated.”
On the road: State officials say they’re working to add bike lanes along a tricky stretch of Memorial Drive in Cambridge, after a cyclist was hit and killed by a driver who lost control of his vehicle in the area Monday.
- The plan includes widening the narrow sidewalk leading to the BU Bridge rotary to create a 12-feet-wide, raised multi-use path, according to the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, which is responsible for the road.
Heads up: The 24-day closure of the Red Line’s Braintree branch will finally wrap up at the end of this weekend. But first, the MBTA is expanding the shutdown to the Ashmont branch for one-day only this Saturday. Free shuttles will sub in between Ashmont and JFK/UMass.
- Why? According to the T, it will allow crews to take advantage of the nearby construction equipment in the area to do track work and remove a slow zone on the Ashmont Branch.
In the C-suite: Stop & Shop is about to get a new president. The Quincy-based supermarket is promoting its chief commercial officer, Roger Wheeler, to replace president Gordon Reid next week.
- Reid, who has led the store since 2019, plans to retire next year. He also oversaw the decision to close 32 Stop & Shop stores.
P.S.— This week’s episode of The Common with Boston Globe reporter Diti Kohli takes a closer look at Stop & Shop’s new business strategy and what it shows about the current state of the local grocery industry.
