Council subcommittee approves adoption of Landlord Tax Exemption

By Neil Zolot

The Everett City Council Legislative Affairs and Elections Subcommittee is recommending adoption of the state Good Landlord Tax Exemption, Massachusetts General Chapter 59, Section 5O. “I support this 100%,” Councillor at-Large Michael Marchese said at the Subcommittee meeting Monday, September 22. “It could affect me because I’m a landlord, but I’ve had tenants for ten or twenty years and don’t want to see them go.”

Implementation is a two-step process. A City or Town must accept through a vote by its Town Meeting or City Council before a program can be established. It will probably be on the City Council agenda Tuesday, October 14 because Monday, October 13 is a holiday.

Municipalities then set their own local standards for the program, including income limits and affordability requirements, within the parameters of the law. “We set the local parameters,” said Council president and subcommittee member Stephanie Martins.

Martins also noted that the Boston City Council accepted the program in February.

To qualify for the abatement, a rental unit must meet specific criteria of being “rented at an affordable housing rate, as determined by the city or town and in accordance with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development guidance and regulations, rented on a yearly basis and occupied year-round by a person or persons whose household income does not exceed an amount to be set by the City or Town; provided, however, that said income shall not be more than 200% of the Area Median Income (AMI),” the state regulation reads. “The property tax exemption shall be for an amount determined by the city or town; provided, however, that the amount shall not be more than the tax otherwise due on the parcel based on the full and fair assessed value multiplied by the square footage of the housing units rented and occupied by a person or persons whose household income is not more than the income limit set.”

“The Good Landlord Tax Credit is a policy we discussed a few years back as an Administration,” Director of Planning and Community Development Matt Lattanzi said. “It’s a very rational expectation if a landlord’s property taxes increase, that’s often passed onto tenants through rent increases. If there was a policy in place acknowledging landlords’ charging below-market rents, granting them a slight decrease in their tax burden might help keep those units online a little longer. From what I’ve read, the credit typically isn’t enough to push a landlord who charges market or above-market rents to decrease the rents below market-rate but retains naturally occurring affordable housing that already exists.”

City Council Meeting

During the full Council meeting that followed, Lattanzi briefed the members on a request to borrow $945,000 to renovate the Chelsea Street Park across the street from the Connolly Center and adjacent to Everett Stadium. They voted to postpone it, primarily on the grounds other parks also need work, particularly one on Central Avenue. “Others are waiting in line to be done,” Councillor at-Large Guerline Alcy Jabouin said.

“To hold this hostage is not the right move to make,” Ward 3 Councillor Anthony DiPierro countered. DiPierro, Councillor at-Large John Hanlon and Ward 1 Councillor Wayne Matewsky, in whose district the park is located, voted against postponement.

The Councillors did approve items to appropriate $1,782,072 from the Capital Stabilization Account for capital improvement projects and accept $216,434 from the state Department of Transportation to improve connections between The Northern Strand Community Trail, Main Street, the Village Neighborhood, Wellington MBTA Station, and Medford via West Street and Wellington Avenue.

A motion to accept $2,453,500 from the state Gaming Commission for programs and services of the Fire, Police, Planning and Transportation Departments was tabled pending more information.

Before the full Council meeting, Lattanzi hosted a public forum on a planned development at 380 Second Street, known as the Sofia, in the Keverian Room at City Hall with representatives of developers Fulcrum Global Investors, as required by its Tax Increment Financing (TIF) agreement with the City. No one attended.