Top senator says Wu's tax plan is 'dead' as delays continue

Boston Sen. Nick Collins delayed a vote on a controversial property tax bill for the third straight session Monday, in the process slamming a "campaign of fear and manipulation" behind the measure.

The bill now appears to have little chance of moving through the chamber, after another high-ranking Democrat declared the proposal "dead."

"I personally do consider this bill dead," said the senate's president pro tempore, William Brownsberger, whose district includes parts of Boston. "Time to end it."

After twice preventing action on the time-sensitive proposal last week, Collins kept it in limbo by again moving to lay the bill on the table, which automatically delays consideration the next session, which is Thursday.

Collins said from the Senate floor that property tax valuation data the state Department of Revenue certified last week show that the proposed temporary shift was negotiated based on "false information."

"Now we know the sky isn't falling, and the campaign of fear and manipulation that took place and continues to take place is a farce," Collins said.

Mayor Michelle Wu has been pressing for months for the state to give her administration the power to push a greater share of the city's property tax burden onto commercial owners for up to three years, arguing that inaction will saddle residents with an excessively high jump in their bills next month.

Wu continued to press for action, but her efforts over the weekend — including a Sunday letter to leaders of four business groups who once backed the plan but now call for a pause — proved unsuccessful.

Advocacy groups who'd been lobbying alongside her were quick to condemn the Senate Monday.

"I'm very frustrated," said Sherry Peterson, an activist with the Massachusetts Senior Action Council. Peterson said she's owned her home in Mattapan since 1977 and is struggling to keep up with the taxes.

"We've been working on this since July, coming down here since September," she said. "I'm so sick of these politicians, I don't know what to do."

Though the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association is often at odds with the mayor, the union's president, Larry Calderone, has been championing her tax proposal on Beacon Hill.

"Any time that residents in my membership are getting a tax increase while big business is going to get a tax decrease and continue earning monies, that's a problem," he said.

Wu did not immediately return a request for comment Monday.

The state Senate is scheduled to meet again Thursday. City officials say next year's tax bills must be postmarked by Dec. 31.

With reporting from WBUR's Walter Wuthmann and State House News Service's Chris Lisinski