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Boston's Morning Newsletter
Why a proposed tax on high-end real estate sales in Mass. appears doomed (again)
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The skies should clear up in time for the 10th annual Donna Summer Disco Party at Boston City Hall Plaza. WBUR arts fellow Maddie Browning has a full guide to the free dance party. But first, let's skate through some news:
The third time was not the charm: Boston’s push for a tax on high-end property sales once again looks poised to die on Beacon Hill. The Senate is teeing up its version of Gov. Maura Healey’s housing bond bill for a vote today. And like the House’s version, the Senate bill also leaves out the proposal to let cities and towns enact taxes of up to 2% on upper-echelon real estate transactions to fund local, affordable housing developments. The transfer fee option was backed by Healey, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and more than two dozen other communities. But business groups lobbied hard against it and now it looks destined for the same fate it met in 2022 and 2020, when it was first sent to Beacon Hill by then-Mayor Marty Walsh.
- Why? State Sen. Lydia Edwards — who spearheaded the original transfer fee proposal as a Boston city councilor in 2019 — points to another local tax option: the Community Preservation Act. Passed in 2000, the program allowed communities to vote to raise local property taxes (and get state matching funds) to pay for affordable housing, historic preservation and open space. But some (including real estate forces opposed to the transfer tax) argue the CPA has been underutilized when it comes to building more housing. “It has not been working as well as it should have,” Edwards said, noting the Senate’s bill includes $50 million in incentives for communities that spend CPA funds on housing. “Before we add an additional tax, we think it’s incumbent upon us to look at what we have already provided in tools,” Edwards said.
- Now what? Wu says she’ll keep pushing for the transfer fee in Boston, noting federal COVID money that helped build more housing will soon “dry up.” The Senate bill also proposes several commissions (a Beacon Hill favorite) to study policies like the transfer fee. “This isn’t the end of any conversation when it comes to housing,” Edwards said. “But again, we have several commissions set up to have those conversations.”
- What did make it into the Senate housing bill? Here’s a full breakdown, from new rules for broker’s fees (!) to ADUs to eviction sealing.
PSA: Need to see a doctor? Massachusetts health care officials are urging residents to consider urgent care centers for less-serious issues, rather than an emergency room. That’s because local ERs continue to struggle with increasingly long waits and crowding that’s only expected to increase during the normally busy summer.
- As an incentive, local health insurers, like Blue Cross Blue Shield, have agreed to reimburse members for most out-of-network urgent care center visits in eastern Massachusetts.
On campus: Harvard’s task forces on antisemitism and anti-Muslim bias is recommending the Ivy League school implement anti-bias training and clarify its bullying policies, per their first reports released yesterday. They found both Jewish and Muslim students — as well as those with pro-Israel or pro-Palestinian views — felt discriminated against on the Cambridge campus, following a year of contentious protests and counterprotests over the war in Gaza.
- Go deeper: You can read the full report from the antisemitism task force here and from the anti-Muslim bias task force here.
Welcome to the team: With the final first-round pick of last night’s NBA draft, the Celtics selected Creighton sharpshooter Baylor Scheierman. Boston.com has five things to know about the 23-year-old.
Around New England: Rhode Island is the latest state to ban “captive hunting.” Gov. Dan McKee signed a law yesterday banning the use of manmade or natural barriers intended to prevent animals from fleeing a confined area, such as private shooting preserves or game ranches.
- Zoom out: More than half of U.S. states already have a full or partial ban on captive hunting, according to the Associated Press.
P.S.— Our Cognoscenti team asked what their readers and writers are hoping to hear during tonight’s big debate between President Biden and Donald Trump. Check out all the responses here. And if you’re in the car or by a radio during the debate, WBUR will carry live special coverage. Tune in at 90.9 or on the WBUR App. For analysis and takeaways, hit up wbur.org.
