The pinnacle of the state’s Division of Income mentioned he’s discovered no proof to assist claims raised by a watchdog group that the Metropolis of Boston has been rising the assessed worth, and taxes, of business properties that file appeals.
DOR Commissioner Geoffrey Snyder mentioned he directed his employees to look into the matter following a letter his division obtained late final month from the Pioneer New England Authorized Basis requesting an investigation into what the watchdog alleged have been “unauthorized and unconstitutional” evaluation practices by town.
“You state in your June 24 correspondence that the City of Boston has been improperly increasing the assessed property values for those taxpayers that appeal to the Appellate Tax Board for an abatement of their real estate tax,” Snyder wrote final Friday to Pioneer representatives.
“Upon receipt of your letter I directed DOR staff to review publicly available property tax information for the City of Boston and was unable to substantiate your claims,” the commissioner added.
Snyder mentioned he was thinking about persevering with to assessment the allegations raised by the Pioneer New England Authorized Basis, which he directed to offer “specific information demonstrating the taxing practices” referenced in its letter.
Mayor Michelle Wu’s monetary chief described the Division of Income’s findings as affirmation that town abides by the legislation in assessing property values.
“The city and the hardworking professionals in the Assessing Department take great care in properly assessing all properties in the city at fair market value,” Chief Monetary Officer Ashley Groffenberger mentioned in a Tuesday assertion. “We are grateful for this review by the Department of Revenue, which reaffirms the city’s transparent valuation and appeals process.”
A metropolis spokesperson had beforehand dismissed Pioneer’s allegations as “baseless and full of misinformation.”
Frank Bailey, president of the Pioneer New England Authorized Basis and retired choose for the U.S. Chapter Court docket for the District of Massachusetts, mentioned Tuesday the Authorized Basis stands by its claims in opposition to town.
“The Pioneer New England Legal Foundation stands by its fully substantiated claims that the City of Boston is retaliating against commercial property owners who have challenged their tax bills for fiscal years 2024 and 2025,” Bailey mentioned in a press release. “We now have invited the DOR on two events to assessment information that not solely substantiate this declare however present it’s a widespread drawback within the metropolis.
“The DOR has thus far ignored our requests to meet so we can provide the evidence they request in the commissioner’s July 18, 2025 letter. Given the DOR’s supervisory responsibilities we expect they will meet with us,” he added.
Bailey advised Snyder in a letter final month that industrial property house owners had knowledgeable Pioneer that town had been assessing their property past the honest market worth, and was “secretly penalizing” house owners who appealed these valuations.
The so-called penalty got here within the type of assessed worth being added to properties by the Metropolis of Boston after these industrial property house owners had filed abatements with the state’s Appellate Tax Board, Bailey’s letter states.
“In so doing, the city has unlawfully increased those taxpayers’ tax burden by as much as hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Bailey wrote. “Without providing the taxpayer any notice in its property tax statement, the city has been increasing the taxpayers’ assessed property values for the next fiscal year, solely because of the taxpayers’ pending ATB appeals.”
Previous to Pioneer’s letter, Daniel Swift, a principal on the world tax consulting agency Ryan that represents plenty of industrial property house owners in Boston, advised the Herald that he got here to an identical conclusion after crunching the numbers and discovering so-called hidden tax penalties that had been tacked onto properties after appeals had been filed.
Initially Revealed:
