Boston mayoral candidate Josh Kraft stated he opposes Mayor Michelle Wu’s push to shift extra of the town’s tax burden onto companies to supply reduction to householders, a declaration that drew a direct rebuke from the Wu marketing campaign.
Whereas the mayor’s stalled laws is aimed toward blunting the impression of falling business property values which might be shifting extra of the town’s tax burden onto householders, Kraft vowed that, if elected, he would take alternate steps to keep away from the residential tax spikes which might be anticipated subsequent 12 months ought to the invoice stay useless.
“I think we need to create more sources of revenue for the city and to be more fiscally disciplined with the city’s budget,” Kraft stated Thursday at a press convention outdoors Metropolis Corridor. “I would never increase residential taxes without first finding significant savings in the city budget.”
Alluding to perceptions that the mayor’s insurance policies have been unfriendly to the town’s enterprise sector, Kraft stated he would search for new sources of income for the town finances by “inviting new businesses in, making sure people know Boston is open for business,” and incentivizing companies to maneuver to the Hub.
The Wu marketing campaign shortly pounced on Kraft’s opposition to the mayor’s tax shift invoice, whereas framing his place as being in favor of residential tax spikes.
“Today, Kraft made it clear that he is opposing the property tax relief for residents and small business owners that Mayor Wu is fighting for as a balanced response to post-pandemic shifts in commercial real estate values,” the Wu marketing campaign stated in an announcement.
Whereas asserting he’s been silent on the mayor’s invoice over the previous two years, the Wu marketing campaign hit Kraft on his household’s wealth, saying of the son of the billionaire New England Patriots proprietor Robert Kraft, “Maybe he’s been slow to understand the issue because he has never had to worry about how to afford rent or housing costs.”
Kraft has “refused to disclose his tax returns and any interests in commercial property he holds in Boston that might explain his opposition to residential tax relief,” the Wu marketing campaign stated. “Boston deserves a mayor who will always fight for Boston residents, not one constantly hiding behind his own conflicts of interest.”
At his press convention, Kraft blasted Wu on what he sees as her personal lack of monetary transparency, whereas calling on her to launch the town’s projected tax will increase for householders forward of the Sept. 9 preliminary election.
“Boston residents deserve honesty,” Kraft stated. “They deserve clarity about the pain that may be coming. But we all know the Wu playbook. Step one, deny the problem. Step two, dismiss and name-call the critics. Step three, delay the truth until after the election … Let’s not pretend the data isn’t ready now. It is.”
Wu has positioned the blame for this 12 months’s double-digit tax spikes on state lawmakers’ failure to approve her tax shift laws. However critics of the invoice have pointed to her refusal to chop a then-$4.6 billion metropolis finances that grew by 8% final fiscal 12 months, to offset the impression of falling workplace values.
In mild of the Trump administration’s threats to reduce federal funding for sanctuary cities like Boston, Wu selected to restrict development on this fiscal 12 months’s $4.8 billion finances to 4.4% amid her reelection marketing campaign.
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