Photo: James Rojas/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — A press conference with Boston unions and community groups was held on the steps of Boston City Hall on Monday in support of a tax relief bill proposed by Mayor Michelle Wu.
Massachusetts Bill HD.4422 was proposed back in March and is designed to shift the 13% residential property tax increases set for next year to commercial property owners, whose taxes are already decreasing due to devaluation after the pandemic.
Chaton Green is a business agent with the Greater Boston Trades Union, and he said that thousands of members of the union are being greatly impacted by this tax increase.
“Thousands of members are city residents, thousands of members are retirees and on a fixed income, and we felt the solutions put forward by the mayor would be great,” Green said. “We are the people who built Boston, from our schools to our hospitals to our housing, and we want to assure affordability for all.”
Read More: Wonderfund Provides Assistance To Kids in Dept. Of Children and Families
The Mass Senior Action Council was also at the conference, as many of the elderly are tight on money to pay such taxes.
“One day, they will be where we are. We are struggling to make ends meet at the grocery store, at the prescription lines,” 79-year-old retired Boston police officer Adonica Chaplain said. “Everyone’s salary goes up, but once you’re retired, you have to make what you get work.”
Mayor Wu participated in a Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA), in which she answered questions regarding these residential property taxes and the work being done to propose the tax relief bill. This can be found here.