Poking at Prop 2 1⁄2

Proposition 2 ½ is considered a “bedrock” of budget cycles throughout Massachusetts cities and towns, due to the limit it places on how much property tax revenue they can collect, as one research group put it earlier this year.

But Boston Mayor Michelle Wu yesterday took a few digs at the law, which was implemented in 1982 after voter approval. The law limits cities and towns to raising no more than 2.5 percent of the assessed value of all taxable property taxes, plus new growth, but they can request an override from voters.

Boston, which has a larger commercial sector than most, has never put an override question on the ballot. But in the pandemic’s aftermath, more communities in other parts of the state are seeking property tax votes, after ballot overrides hit a 30-year low in 2018. Proponents of Prop 2 ½, as it’s often called, say it offers taxpayers predictability, and pleases voters sick of high property taxes.

In Boston’s most recent budget, longtime vacant jobs were slashed, and salary savings arose out of delaying a police academy class, Wu said in a sit-down with Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce President Jim Rooney. “We are going to continue keeping that belt cinched as tight as we possibly can,” she said. “Prop 2 ½ is the tightest belt of all.”

“Of the 43 years that that law has been in place, inflation has been, on average, 25% higher every year, above two and a half percent growth,” as health care costs have quickly risen, she added.

When MASSterList later asked whether she believed the state should take a look at Prop 2 ½, and whether it no longer works, Wu said, “Yes.” Asked to elaborate, Wu said it’s part of a larger conversation. “Prop 2 ½ was put in place through significant pressure and advocacy from the business community against municipal governments’ advocacy several decades ago,” she said.

Adam Chapdelaine, the executive director of the Mass. Municipal Association, echoed some of Wu’s comments. “Frankly, the mayor’s comments lined up with some research we’ve been doing recently,” he said. (Stay tuned for more on that, he added.)

“I think Prop 2 ½ is in some ways an ingenious law in that it shifted budgets from being expense-driven to being revenue-driven,” he said, before adding, “I wouldn’t put the thumb up or down. I would say, ‘Look at how it’s working and let’s have a conversation on whether it can work in a different way.’”

In Boston, the city budget, which heavily relies on property taxes, remains “very stable,” Wu said, but the conversation about revenue diversification, in order to maintain the expected level of city services, is needed. Diversification measures have been repeatedly blocked at the State House, but “whether or not anyone wants to have the conversation, we are going to have to have it, because this is a strain on municipal budgets all around the Commonwealth, especially now,” she said.

What are your thoughts about Prop 2 1/2? Is it working or not working? Let me know: gin@massterlist.com.

HAPPENING TODAY

9:00 | Mass. Commission for the Blind holds a public hearing on the proposed Comprehensive Annual Independent Living Social Services Plan. The plan would be in effect from Oct. 1, 2025 through Sept. 30, 2026. | Access

10:00 | Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll gives remarks at the official “phase one opening” of the Lynn Harbor Park. | Hanson St., Lynn

12:00 | Mayor Michelle Wu appears live on GBH’s Boston Public Radio for “Ask the Mayor.” | wgbh.org

1:00 | Gov. Maura Healey gives remarks at an event described as an announcement about the Friendship Four ice hockey series. The event, which has brought (mostly) New England region college hockey contests to Ireland, includes RIT, University of Miami (Ohio), Union College and Sacred Heart University when the puck drops in Belfast on Nov. 28 and 29. The Friendship Four announced this month that Harvard, Boston University, Denver University and Quinnipiac University will play “the first-ever four-team women’s tournament” in Belfast in January 2026. | Room 428, State House, Boston

HEALEY-BACKED NONPROFIT LAUNCHES AD CAMPAIGN

One Commonwealth, the nonprofit advocacy group supported by Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, has launched a $250,000 campaign with three 30-second ads focusing on housing issues.

One Commonwealth, which does not have to disclose its donors, has primarily been getting involved in local zoning debates and campaigns. But now it’s taking its pro-housing message to the online airwaves.

The ads herald a ban on renter-paid broker fees if the renter didn’t hire the broker, tout the Healey administration’s easing of zoning for accessory dwelling units (ADUs), and point to increased housing production under the Affordable Homes Act. Each of the ads prominently highlights Healey’s role in getting the measures approved. Healey and Driscoll are up for reelection in 2026.

The ads will be seen on online and streaming platforms throughout September. MZL Media, which is co-led by former Elizabeth Warren chief-of-staff Mindy Myers, created the ads.

FROM BEACON HILL

CENSUS START: The U.S. Census, used for municipal and transportation planning, as well as public health, will get underway later this year, officials told a Senate panel. – State House News Service

JUMP TO FLAGSHIP: Yvonne Hao, Gov. Maura Healey’s former economic development chief, has taken a job with the venture capital firm Flagship Pioneering. – Boston Globe

NEWS NEXT DOOR

WIND IN SAILS: A federal judge struck a stop-work order leveled at Revolution Wind, the offshore wind project off the coast of Rhode Island. The Trump administration’s order to shut down was arbitrary and capricious, the judge said in granting owner Orsted’s preliminary injunction. – Boston Business Journal

BOSTON BALLOT: Mayor Michelle Wu will be the only candidate in the mayoral section of Boston’s November ballot. Josh Kraft dropped out after losing the preliminary to Wu by roughly 50 points, and the third-place finisher, Domingos DaRosa, failed to take his spot after a recount showed he did not receive the 3,000 votes required to advance to November. – MassLive

IMMIGRATION AGENTS: Federal immigration agents are detaining Brazilians in large numbers. Brazilians are the largest immigrant community in Massachusetts. – GBH News

CUSTOM POSE: A U.S. customs officer who works at Logan Airport has been charged with posing as Plymouth’s town manager when he sent an email to police complaining about Christmas lights on vehicles. – Plymouth Independent

MEDICAID CUTS: A nonprofit medical service provider for homeless people has laid off 25 people and plans to close one of its facilities as it braces for Medicaid cuts. – MassLive

STUART CASE SETTLEMENT: After a formal apology from Mayor Michelle Wu to the two Black men wrongly accused in the 1989 murder of Carol Stuart, a white woman, the city of Boston has paid $150,000 as part of a settlement agreement with the two. – Boston Herald

BERKSHIRE BUS: Rides on the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority will stay free through June 2026, but a driver shortage is straining the system. – Berkshire Eagle