To offset the decline of office property values—which in turn is creating looming budget gaps for the city—Boston's mayor has proposed to raise the property tax rate ceiling for commercial properties while leaving the rate unchanged for homeowners.

Mayor Michelle Wu is petitioning for a temporary increase of the city's tax-rate ceiling for commercial properties, to be phased in over three years, aiming to redistribute the tax burden while continuing to fund all city services.

Boston is facing a tax revenue deficit of nearly $1B in the next five years from plunging commercial property values that are expected to drop by 30% or more before the end of the decade, according to a recent report from Tufts University's Center for State Policy Analysis and the non-profit Boston Policy Institute, Bloomberg reported.

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