City Council tries again with residential tax relief after testy session at which accusations were hurled, faces may have been made and one councilor briefly broke into 'Ave Maria'

The Boston City Council today voted 12-1 to approve a request to the state legislature to let Boston temporarily increase the tax rate on commercial property to try to ease the tax burden on residential property owners caused by the sharp decrease in the value of commercial buildings downtown.

Councilor Ed Flynn, who lost bids to amend the proposal to seek special tax relief for low-income "front line" city workers and senior residents who have lived in the same houses for at least 20 years, cast the sole no vote, accusing colleagues of not caring about low-paid city workers and the elderly.

The measure now goes to Mayor Wu for her review and, if she signs it, to the state legislature for its consideration. Last year, the house approved the measure, but the senate, in an effort led by Sen. Nick Collins of South Boston, rejected it. In addition to some relief for residential property owners, the measure would also provide "personal property" exemptions for small businesses. New this time, the measure calls for the city to issue rebates out of its general funds to certain residential property owners should the legislature again reject the proposal.

The vote came after 4 1/2 hours of contentious debate, in which councilors turned on each other with a vituperativeness not seen in the council chambers in a long time.

At one point, Councilor Erin Murphy stopped in the middle of introducing a proposal to accuse Council President Ruthzee Louijeune (at large) of making faces at her. Louijeune denied being so childish.

Louijeune also had to defend herself when Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson (Roxbury) accused her of tone policing her and Councilor Julia Mejia (at large) - when Fernandes Anderson was trying to get Councilor Gabriela Zapata (East Boston, Charlestown, North End) to answer a specific question about her report on the tax proposal.

"Please don't correct me, because I don't see you correcting other people that way," Fernandes Anderson told Louijeune. "Do not correct people one way and correct others another way. You're not doing it to some and you're doing it to others."

At another point, Flynn refused to answer questions by Councilor Liz Breadon (Allston/Brighton) on one of his proposal and said she would know the answers had she attended an earlier hearing on the matter. 

"Councilor Breadon chose not to show up to the original hearing," Flynn, who now frequently expresses ire about colleagues who don't show up at hearings, said.

Breadon, normally one of the council's quieter, calmer members, responded with an anger she has not displayed since 2022, when a Catholic councilor accused her, a Protestant who fled Northern Ireland, of trying to restart the Troubles in Boston.

Breadon, who recently underwent knee surgery - she walked into the meeting with a crutch, which was propped up next to her desk - made no apologies to Flynn. "I need take care of my own health and I resent any implication that I am neglecting my duty as a city councilor," she said, adding she wants a deep dive into Flynn's proposed break for the elderly and other property-tax breaks the city now offers - including one already aimed at the elderly.

Flynn also got into it with Louijeune. When she rejected his request for a 15-minute break so that he and his staff could prepare an amendment to one of his amendments, she told him she heard "audible groans" from some of their colleagues at the idea of such a long break.

"I'm not worried whether or not my colleagues express themselves through a groan," he retorted. "I'm here to defend my constituents." His staff put together the amended amendment as the council continued its debate.

"Boy, we're like a whole bunch of misfits here today," Mejia, who wore a black ball cap inscribed "JUST FIX IT," said at one point. At another point she began to sing "Ave Maria," but stopped after the first two words.

Her misfit comment drew a rebuke from Fernandes Anderson. "I resent that," she said, then allowing as how maybe the crankiness meant councilors should take a break, maybe even get some lunch, which she said people watching the meeting on TV would understand. "We are humans, we are professionals," not misfits, she said.

The sniping began when Flynn introduced the first of two amendments, which would have asked legislators to let Boston give special tax breaks to low-income city workers.

Coletta Zapata, who held a hearing on the overall tax issue as chair of the council committee on government operations, said she could not support that, not because, as Flynn implied, she maybe doesn't really care about municipal workers, but because it would just make it easier for the legislature to vote no again because it's unconstitutional. 

The state constitution, she said, does not allow property-tax breaks based on what sort of jobs property owners have. And while there are ways to seek to address that, simply loading it into an overall property-tax relief bill for Boston is not the way.

After a break and a chance to speak to the council's attorney, who expressed no opinion either way on the constitutionality of the measure, Flynn said Coletta Zapata was wrong, she wasn't stating a fact, just her opinion and his opinion is the proposal would pass constitutional muster - as well as prove to those low-paid workers who own houses that the council cares about them.

As he now commonly does, he brought up a retired city worker he spotted in a local market staring at a can of Campbell soup who, when Flynn asked him why he was studying the can so intently, replied he wondering whether he could afford it now that it has gone up a few cents in price due to inflation.

"We have to ensure that there is a Boston for them," he said. He also repeated his arguments the city should be looking at ways to cut its payroll and squeeze more money out of local non-profit property owners - and that the Wu administration should have started doing that months ago.

Other councilors, including Ben Weber (Jamaica Plain, West Roxbury) and Enrique Pepén (Hyde Park, Mattapan, Roslindale), however, said they did not want to jeopardize the proposal's core measure - overall tax relief for Boston homeowners - with a possibly unconstitutional coda. 

The council eventually voted 9-2-2 against the amendment. Breadon, Coletta Zapata, Durkan, FitzGerald, Louijeune, Pepén, Santana, Weber and Worrell voted no;  Flynn and Murphy voted yes; Fernandes Anderson and Mejia voted "present."

The council also rejected Flynn's proposed amendment for a special tax break for homeowners over 55 who have lived in their homes for at least 20 years, on much the same rationale, as well as some measure that Murphy proposed.