District One City Councilor Lydia Edwards has called for a hearing regarding a proposal that will provide a means by which senior citizens on fixed incomes and other low-income property owners who have fallen behind on their property taxes can stay in their homes.
With the incredible and rapid development of our city (that, whether we realize it, is akin to Shanghai and those other cities in China that have been transformed within a decade or less), Boston’s leaders must ensure that our city works for ALL of our citizens, not just the wealthy few.
Although there presently are programs that allow for back-payment over time of overdue property taxes, those programs need updating in order to take into account the realities of 2018.
We support Councilor Edwards’s effort to expand the length of tax repayment and forgive a portion of interest on back taxes (ideally, with interest rates at 12 percent, those rates should be reduced to market levels).
With Boston entering a true Renaissance in its history, it is only fair that those of our citizens whose families have lived here for generations through both the good and bad times be allowed to enjoy our beautiful new city.