Boston Mayor Michelle Wu on Thursday said it is “incredibly frustrating” that vulnerable Boston homeowners will see a more than 10 percent tax increase on average next year, after state senators this week cast the final blow to her failed property tax home rule petition, which aimed to soften the spike.
“We were instructed by the Senate to reach a compromise with business groups. The Senate did not have their own feedback,” Wu said. “We had a deal, and other parties chose to walk away from that, and they do not have the best interests of Boston residents at heart.”
Answering questions after an unrelated event Thursday, Wu took aim at the home rule petition process, which requires municipalities — including the state’s biggest city, Boston — to seek and obtain the Legislature’s approval in order to make changes to certain local laws and policies.
“There are parts of the Commonwealth where I heard feedback from folks that they thought [a double digit property tax increase] was just fine and that Boston should absorb it,” said Wu. “They don’t represent or speak for our residents. I know what our residents are going through, and every chance that I have, I’m going to fight for the people of Boston.”
Wu, however, did not acknowledge that one of the primary lawmakers who voiced opposition to Wu’s proposal on Beacon Hill was state Senator Nick Collins, who represents South Boston in the upper chamber. Collins delayed the legislation’s progress three times in its final days. Senator Will Brownsberger of Belmont, the third-ranking Democrat in the Senate, also represents part of Boston. Speaking alongside Collins on Monday, Brownsberger declared the bill “dead.”
Senate President Karen Spilka, Democrat of Ashland, later confirmed she would not be advancing the legislation to temporarily shift more of the city’s property tax burden onto commercial real estate. Wu had brokered a compromise version of that measure with prominent business groups after months of contentious back and forth.
Both Collins and Brownsberger pointed to recently certified property valuation data that showed that the tax increase residential property owners are facing is not going to be as severe as the city had initially feared. The business groups that negotiated the deal with Wu also backtracked following the release of the new information, questioning the necessity of the measure.
Wu on Thursday again dismissed their arguments and slammed the upper chamber for pulling its support for the deal, arguing the 10.4 percent year over year tax increase homeowners and landlords will have to pay on average is in line with what the city had projected.
Final property valuation data “always lands at just about this time of year … which we made clear from the very beginning,” she said.
Collins and Spilka did not immediately return a request for comment, but in a statement to the Globe, Brownsberger said, “I feel that everyone in this process, including the mayor, is truly trying to do the right thing as they understand it.”
Wu said she will continue to seek collaboration where possible.
“I always focus on trying to do right by our community members, as I hope every elected official does, that they represent the best interests of their constituents,” said Wu. “That is what should guide our work … not so much the perceived or described drama of individuals. I don’t see this as being about any individual elected officials at all, this is about our community members, and we know what the right thing is to do.”
Niki Griswold can be reached at niki.griswold@globe.com. Follow her @nikigriswold.