Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s controversial property tax plan collapsed in the Senate earlier this week.
Now, she said she’s thinking of the residents who will be impacted while also pushing back on lawmakers who killed the bill.
“For me what’s most heartbreaking is that the very people who will be most impacted by this are used to things like this happening, are used to being ignored and left aside,” Wu said on Boston Public Radio, speaking publicly for the first time since the bill was killed.
The bill sought to shift some of the distribution of property tax increases from homeowners onto the commercial real estate sector.
“Residents deserve to know that they are prioritized in the process and it’s heartbreaking to feel that that hasn’t happened,” Wu said. The cost of buying a home or keeping your home in Boston has ballooned out of reach for many people in recent years.
The hot button plan was negotiated by the city and the business community for months but ultimately killed by South Boston State Senator Nick Collins, who slammed the data behind the bill, saying it was false information. Collins received campaign funding from real estate officials, public records show.
The Senate was the last hurdle after the plan had been agreed upon by the city and the business community, and had passed the House.
Wu defended the math on Wednesday, saying initial estimates that residents would face a 14% annual property tax spike were based upon past research, and figures changed after her team collected their own data. She said all those figures remained within the margin of error.
Recent data shows the projected hike would be closer to 10.5%, a key sticking point in why the bill didn’t pass.
In addition to Collins, members of the Boston City Council also questioned the math behind the failed plan, with City Councilor Ed Flynn calling for an investigation by the state’s inspector general.
Wu called the legislative experience “eye-opening,” and said, “We don’t have time at the city level to play games.”
“It had just felt like there was one goal post after another,” Wu added.
The legislative defeat comes as Wu is shoring up a reelection run.