The House of Representatives on Monday approved the City of Boston’s request to temporarily reconfigure the way it splits property taxes between commercial and residential taxpayers. 

Norwell Rep. David DeCoste slowed the bill’s advancement last week but was not in the House chamber when Democrats put the bill up for a vote at the immediate outset of their 11 a.m. session and moved the legislation over to the Senate. 

The Senate met briefly Monday but adjourned until Wednesday without acting on the legislation, which reflects compromise language reached in October between Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and leaders of four business groups.

Wu and the City Council have pushed for the bill’s passage to mitigate the extent of coming increases in residential property taxes, while critics of the bill say the city should pull back on spending and be more mindful of tax impacts on commercial real estate owners and the struggles that sector faces due to post-pandemic changes.

Last week, Wu said she needs the tax shift bill to be “signed by the governor within the next two weeks” as the city prepares its January 2025 tax bills. Her office has forecast a nearly $500 increase in property taxes for the average homeowner without action.

Democrats were able to advance the bill during an informal session where there’s no quorum and any legislator can stall a bill’s progress.

House Republican Leader Bradley Jones Jr. was briefly in the chamber during Monday’s session, which also featured Republican Reps. Steven Howitt and Donald Wong and Democrat Boston Reps. William MacGregor, Rob Consalvo, Jay Livingstone, and Dan Ryan.

“I’m just very grateful we were able to pass that today,” Consalvo told reporters after session on Monday. The Boston Democrat filed the home rule petition on behalf of Wu’s administration twice.

“It’s a hugely important issue for the city of Boston, hugely important for my constituents, we’re literally receiving hundreds of phone calls. So just glad we were able to get it done, and now it’s off to the Senate, and hopeful that they’ll move on it expeditiously,” he said.

Consalvo said he spoke with DeCoste over the weekend on the phone and had a “very cordial conversation. At the end of the day this is, like I said, for our constituents in Boston so important, and it’s something that it has, to make sure we’re keeping our property taxes as low as possible in the city, given this quirk that’s happening this year,” he said. 

Mass. Senior Action, a local advocacy group, came to the State House Monday to urge representatives to pass the bill. They have been involved with advocating for the tax redistribution for months. 

“We had been downstairs as folks were coming into the chambers to send them a strong message that [impending residential rate hikes] is something that will harm a lot of people, and particularly seniors on fixed incomes, and to urge passage of the bill,” said Executive Director Carolyn Villers.

Amir Shahsavari, vice president of the Small Property Owners Association, criticized the House vote.

“We are sorry to see the House pass this bill and hope the Senate will resist it, as it harms small businesses and commercial owners,” Shahsavari said. “It’s like throwing ice water on the city’s economy. We do not support Mayor Wu’s bill as any tax should not be considered without budget cuts.”

Republican Sen. Ryan Fattman, who was present in the Senate chamber during Monday’s session, would not say whether Republicans in that branch planned to further delay the bill, but expressed “concerns.” 

“We’ll see,” he said. “I’ve heard a lot of concerns. A lot of people have reached out. Actually, surprisingly, some of my constituents who have business interests in Boston. You know, Boston’s a little bit unique in that it’s not your typical home rule petition. It affects a lot of people.” 

Sen. Nick Collins of South Boston, a Democrat, was on hand for Monday’s sparsely attended Monday session. Asked by reporters if he and Collins talked about their mutual concerns about Wu’s tax plan on Monday, Fattman replied that “there’s a lot of concerns out there.” 
“I asked him what his thoughts are, and he was like, you know, there’s just a lot of concerns out there, and I’m going to try to do my research in the next few days. Eat some turkey and stew on it,” Fattman said. 

Members of Mass. Senior Action crowded the hallway hoping to catch Collins on his way out of the Senate suite after Monday’s session. Villers said some of the activists were his constituents and had been trying to connect with him about the tax bill for around a month.

Fattman said that if he were “a betting person” he would guess the Senate will not take up the bill before Thanksgiving. 

Sen. William Brownsberger, a Democrat who presided at Monday’s session, did not reveal the Senate’s timeline to reporters when asked. 
Asked if the bill would come up for a vote before or after Thanksgiving, Brownsberger said, “Working on that very quickly.” 

He said he would vote for the bill.

DeCoste, a five-term lawmaker, said he “made commitments” to constituents from his South Shore district, which includes Norwell, Hanover, Rockland, and Hanson, to counter the bill’s advance last week.

He was convinced, he said, by business leaders, property owners, local chambers of commerce, and the South Shore Chamber of Commerce, who all “made a very convincing case ... that they are going to be suffering inordinately and this could have significant negative economic consequences to the state.”

“This tax increase would have huge impacts not only on the city of Boston but on the entire Commonwealth,” DeCoste said in a press statement issued later in the day by MassGOP. “My constituents have a vested interest in Boston thriving as it’s a major business hub for the state. Overburdening commercial real estate with tax increases will inevitably lead to foreclosures, and there’s no doubt about that. We already have vacancy rates averaging over 40 percent in properties that are highly leveraged. The majority of the Legislature quietly agrees with this concern, even if they won’t say it out loud.”

On Monday, the Mass Fiscal Alliance slammed the bill’s passage in the House and criticized Republican Minority Leader Jones for “failing to stand against” the measure.

“This vote represents a betrayal of taxpayers, businesses, and anyone who values a vibrant and competitive economy in Boston,” said Paul Diego Craney, the group’s spokesman. “Instead of standing up for the hard-working entrepreneurs and small business owners who are the backbone of our capital city, House leadership allowed this reckless bill to sail through.”