Boston, MA
Boston tax shift effectively dead in the Senate, little time left before bills go out
Boston’s proposal to shift the burden of its property taxes away from homeowners is effectively dead in the Legislature.
Senate President Karen Spilka, D-Middlesex/Norfolk, said in a statement Monday night that she did not intend to bring the home rule petition back to the floor when the Senate reconvenes on Thursday.
With days left for the city to finalize its property tax rates before January bills go out, this means city officials will not have time to rethink and resubmit a new proposal.
“Many in the Senate believe that this proposal tips the scales too far in one direction, with a stalled economic recovery in Boston as an unfortunate potential outcome,” Spilka said.
“My job as Senate President is to work toward compromise, always; without it we would accomplish nothing. It is also my job to listen to the members of the Senate, and I have heard clearly that there currently is not sufficient support for this proposal,” she continued.
Mayor Michelle Wu unveiled the original tax shift proposal in April in response to declining commercial property values in the wake of the pandemic, as fewer people traveled to the office for work.
To avoid homeowners having to make up for that loss on their taxes, she proposed requesting a higher percentage of the tax levy from commercial owners.
Wu wrote in a letter to senators last week that residential property owners would see about a 10.4% increase on their next tax bill, or a 5.2% annual increase, if the home rule petition is passed. Without it, they would see an estimated 21% hike, or a 10.5% annual increase.
The original home rule petition passed the state House of Representatives but stalled in the Senate, largely due to concerns from the business and real estate communities that it would hurt commercial property owners at a time when they were already struggling.
Wu met with business groups to draft a second, compromise version of the bill, which passed the City Council in October and the House last month.
She pressed for the bill to be put on a fast track for approval so tax rates could be finalized on time, saying in November that it would need to pass by Dec. 4.
But last week, Sen. Nick Collins, D-1st Suffolk, delayed the Senate vote twice, saying Dec. 2 that he wanted to first see the certified tax valuations.
After those numbers were released publicly, he again delayed the vote on Dec. 5, saying he wanted more time for analysis of the numbers.
Collins and others in the Senate and in the business community claimed the Department of Revenue-certified valuations showed that Wu’s initial estimates of the increase in homeowners’ tax bills were overblown.
Even some of the business groups who had worked on the second, compromise bill backed out at the end of last week, saying the tax shift was unnecessary.
On Monday, Collins pushed the Senate vote a third time, repeating the argument that the bill was not needed.
“Estimates by city officials have been far off the mark,” he said, MassLive previously reported.. “We believe it is fair and prudent to allow the time to digest that data and speak to our constituents, stakeholders and colleagues to determine whether this home-rule is necessary.”
Wu has pushed back on these arguments, saying in her letter to senators last week that the average annual tax increase for a single-family home over the past decade has been about 5%, less than half of the estimate for 2025.
But opponents, including Spilka, said the change could hurt the economic viability of the whole state, not just Boston.
The Senate president said in her statement Monday that while senators were aware of affordability issues and the concerns of homeowners, they had helped pass other legislation to help address those challenges, including the $5.1 billion housing bond bill signed into law in August and a major tax relief package that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
Before Spilka declared her intention not to bring up the bill again Monday night, a city spokesperson released a short statement saying they were “waiting for clarity” on whether it would be brought to a vote.
The city did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday morning.
Boston, MA
Power outages in Massachusetts affecting tens of thousands amid stormy weather
Stormy weather caused power outages for tens of thousands of customers in Massachusetts, as well as over 200 cancellations and delays at Boston’s Logan Airport today.
According to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency’s outage map, about 65,000 customers were without power as of 3 p.m., down from 81,000 outages around noon. Some of the hardest hit communities were Foxboro, Wrentham, Pepperell, West Brookfield, Franklin and Holliston.
Wrentham police said drivers should expect delays as many streets are blocked by fallen trees. Police shared video of a downed wire sparking across one road.
High winds brought down trees and wires on roads across the state, according to damage reports from Skywarn weather spotters. One report said the wind blew scaffolding off a building on Heath Street in Boston.
Massachusetts Weather Radar
There was a high wind warning for much of eastern, northeastern and southeastern Massachusetts. The Blue Hill Observatory in Milton reported a wind gust of 79 mph on Friday just after noon.
Other communities reporting high wind gusts included Attleboro (65 mph), Wareham (62 mph), North Dighton (61 mph) and Wrentham (60 mph).
Heavy downpours and possible thunderstorms that could cause localized street flooding were expected to continue through mid-afternoon. The rain should move offshore by 5 p.m.
Logan Airport delays and cancellations
According to FlightAware, there were 110 total cancellations at Logan Airport, and 211 total delays. JetBlue was hit hardest, with 23 cancellations and 55 delays.
“Due to wind, Boston Logan may see delays and cancellations,” the airport’s website said. “Please check with your airline before coming to the airport.”
Boston, MA
Red Sox’s Veteran Leader Gets Alarming Projection For Upcoming Season
Somehow, in the midst of all the injuries the Boston Red Sox dealt with last season, shortstop Trevor Story stayed healthy.
Story played 163 games in his first three years as a Red Sox, then played 157 this past year. He led the team in home runs, RBIs, and stolen bases. His defense tailed off in September, but he was also leading the charge on offense by the time the Sox got to the playoffs.
Entering his age-33 season, Story has been vehemently endorsed as the starting shortstop by the Red Sox organization, specifically chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. Are the Red Sox counting too heavily on the veteran repeating his production from a year ago?
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Story coming back to earth this season?
On Thursday, MLB.com published a “snapshot” of the Red Sox’s Fangraphs projections for this season, and the No. 1 thing that stood out from the list was Story and the Boston shortstop group being projected for 2.0 WAR, which ranked 27th out of the 30 teams in baseball.
“This projection and ranking might be a bit surprising, considering that Trevor Story had a resurgent 2025 season with a .741 OPS, 25 home runs, and 31 stolen bases and finished with 3.0 WAR,18th-best among shortstops,” wrote MLB.com’s Brent Maguire.
“Projection systems, however, are notoriously conservative and are looking beyond just the previous season. Story was oft-injured and unproductive during his first three years with the Red Sox before 2025 and with him entering his age-33 season, there are still some questions about his production in 2026.”
Certainly, one projection does not mean Story is doomed to have a bad year, and if anything, he might have a better defensive season if he stays healthy, because he’ll be better conditioned for those final weeks of the year.
However, this underscores the need for the Red Sox to land another big bat, and ideally, two. The odds that Story leads the team in all of those offensive categories again feel slim, and even if he does, that likely means Boston’s offense was fairly pedestrian.
More MLB: Red Sox’s Former No. 5 Prospect Breaks Silence On ‘Surprise’ Trade
Boston, MA
Person of interest in Brown University shooting identified, sources say
Authorities have identified a person of interest in the Brown University mass shooting, three senior law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation told NBC News.
This comes after days of intense investigation and a manhunt for a gunman who opened fire inside the Barus and Holley engineering building on the Providence, Rhode Island, campus on Saturday. Two students were killed and nine other people injured.
Another person of interest was previously taken into custody, but that person was eventually released when investigators ruled them out as a suspect.
Michael Tabman, a retired FBI special agent in charge, joined NBC10 Boston on Thursday to discuss the possible connection being investigated between the shooting death of an MIT professor in Brookline, Massachusetts, and last weekend’s mass shooting on the Brown University campus.
Investigators released a series of surveillance videos and images of a person of interest, asking the public for help with the search.
The shooting has raised questions about safety and security on Brown’s campus and concerns about misinformation and AI-generated images circulated online due to the high-profile nature of the case.
Investigators are looking into whether the Brown shooting may be linked to the killing of an MIT professor at his Brookline, Massachusetts, home this week.
This is a breaking story. Check back for updates.
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