for for all your advocacy. I'm so so sorry I'm late and really really appreciate you being here, not just today, but over and over and over again to make sure that our communities have what they need. Um, so good morning. Oh, Commissioner Shay,
come on up. Good morning and thank you so much for being here as we take the exciting step of signing into law, a piece of legislation that will improve our seniors lives in Boston and continue to drive the momentum for more changes that
are needed. Today, we'll sign clause 41D into law. It's a result of countless I know couldn't someone come up with a more exciting name for it and we will explain what class 41D is. Um but I do want to just start by
thanking the countless ad advocates, community leaders and um community members who have come together to fight for this over and over and over again. Uh Mass Senior Action is the leading force for for driving change in the
city. for our seniors, for our neighborhoods. Um, I want to thank Commissioner Emily Sheay whose agrong commission and her leadership and her team work so hard every single day across our neighborhoods.
And a very special thank you to city councelor Ruti Luen. She and her office led the charge on this bill. She identified the opportunity to propose it before the city council, drafted up the the language that was
needed and then um also partnered with city councilors Brian Warell. Thank you. Thank you for your leadership and city councelor Ben Weber who also stepped up to co-sponsor this bill bill and help shepherd it through the council. State Rep. Russell Holmes is uh our champion
on all issues for seniors in Boston. Um, and we thank him for standing with us. And the council then just last Wednesday unanimously passed this into law. Um, oh, and want to also this within our
city departments, it's not just a provision that impacts our seniors and agron commission, but assessing commissioner Hinland Wong represents our assessing department because this is a budgeting change that is now going to help make the the budget a little bit
easier for our families, too. And um where's where's we know it's not the easiest times out there in the world. And although Boston is full of examples of joy and of community coming together to keep moving things forward, we need all the help that we can get. Um, and
there are amazing champions like State Representative Brandy Fluker Reed, uh, who also step up in representing this district and and this community. Every dollar we can put back into our famil family's pocketbooks makes a big difference. And that's why we're trying to find every tool possible to support
our seniors. Clause 41D is the newest way to help seniors save more of their hard-earned money. It changes how the city decides eligibility for the 41C senior property tax exemption. And under the old system, whatever you made as the
threshold, those income and asset limits were were just what it was every single year. But that meant that even if because of inflation or cost of living your um there were slight increases in what you were making, you could be pushed out of the program because costs
of living keep going up. Clause 41D helps address that particular problem. So moving forward, the city will account for changing economic conditions and automatically adjust the income eligibility every year for the property tax exemption so people don't get pushed out of this program.
More seniors will be able to qualify for this benefit and keep qualifying year after year. With this exemption, seniors will be able to deduct between$1 and $2,000 off their taxes. Our older residents need this relief, and they need it now.
So, I know we're here to celebrate, but I'm going to because Mass Senior Action is in the house, I'm going to put the asks out there, too. We have to keep pushing as well because the affordability crisis won't be solved by any single policy. We need to keep doing everything in our power to back up our state reps as they're fighting for these
changes up at the state house that the city council has already pushed through, often unanimously. Over the past four years, the city and the city council have filed four home rule petitions that would significantly increase the overall exemption and income limits for older
homeowners. The most recent one filed in May includes both an expansion of the senior tax exemption. So not only would the threshold go up, but it more people would qualify even even more. It includes that and a real estate transfer fee which will put a very small portion
on uh uh real estate transactions to go directly towards affordable housing and particularly for seniors to have more relief. that would have generated had that been in in effect the first time we passed that at the city council level, at the city level, we would have had
$200 million by now to direct into affordable housing and particularly affordability for seniors. Our proposal would help seniors save even more money and stay in the neighborhoods they call home. The House has recently advanced the transfer fee
um petition home petitions from many communities that have filed filed these all across the Commonwealth. they have moved it further along into committee and on the Senate side nearly all of them except for Boston's has been released into committee on the Senate side as well. And when that happens,
when they don't even release it into committee on the Senate side, that means that no one standing here or at the state house could even get a hearing to happen on the issue. And so the Senate hasn't taken it up and we just urge them. There is no time to waste. Our seniors and communities need help now.
This is a common sense proposal. a a set of issues that many communities across the Commonwealth are fighting for and we want to make sure that every resident who could be eligible can take advantage of this. So, um with today's news, if you're a resident who's 65 years or
older, we encourage you to reach out to our aged commission for a full screening of this program and other benefits you might be eligible for. We are going to keep showing up for our seniors who have given so much to our city and we're going to keep fighting for all the changes that we still need in our community. So, thank you everyone.
Um, before I turn it over to my colleagues in elected office, um, I just want to make sure our Spanish speaking residents um, also get the news directly. different. 41D. Event. Foreom. forenstos.
No, municipal. Weber represent Russell Holmes Brandy Fluker Reed. Um, Okay, gracia. Thank you everyone. And I'll pass it over to city councelor
Ruth. Thank you uh mayor and good morning everyone. I am so so happy to be here with all of you. Want to just give a start off by giving a big big uh round of applause to Mass and your Action Council for all of the incredible work
that y'all do. We would not be here today if it were not for your advocacy because we needed you all to say yes, advance this, push this forward. We listen to you and we follow you. So, I'm just really grateful to everyone. Lily, thank you for my pen. My ambassador,
Matt, Senior Action Council, she gave it to me last Wednesday and it's better than my council pin, so I'mma wear it all the time. So, uh I'm really glad to be here um with uh the mayor. Thank you, mayor. with my colleagues. Want to thank my co-sponsors on this legislation, Councelor Brian Warell, uh and councelor
Ben Weber. Um every day we are thinking about how we can address affordability crisis for our seniors, for our older adults here in the city. And how this all started was one day someone um an older adult called our office and asked
my policy director, Jesse, who's in the back. Um they asked Jesse, "Are we doing everything we can uh when it comes to exemptions for our seniors?" And we're like, "I think we are." Then Jesse found that there's 40 the clause 41D, which
allows us to adjust the limits for cost of living, both the uh income limits and the asset limits. And that's a big deal. It's a modest increase, but it's important because over time it amounts to a lot of money. Lily and I were
talking about it that had it this been something we had adopted a while ago, this is potentially an exemption that she could have qualified for. And so I just want to thank everyone um who worked together with our office. You know, we came to meetings, we were at uh Charles Street AM talking to all of you,
talking to Carolyn and really depending on your research and making sure that we had the right idea here and that we were adopting something that made sense for our older adults. I want to thank Chief Emily Sheay and the Art Strong Commission, interim chief of assessing Henland Wong, um, and everyone who has
helped us bring us to this moment. It's a celebration about what we can accomplish when we come together to support Boston seniors. And I'm really excited. I'm glad that we have partners in the state house, uh, Rep. uh, Russell Holmes and Rep. uh, Fluka Reed. What makes me really excited about this because we know, and as the mayor
stated, so many of this depends on partnership. This is something that the city council can adopt and it becomes law without needing any further authorization from the state house and that's it's a big deal because it is because not with you not with the ones
here but we we've seen because you all have seen because you all basically live at the state house. y'all live there about how much advocacy is required to push the needle, push anything forward and so that we can do this on our own
because we know what time it is when you all call us when you all at church telling me asking me what are we doing that's I can't even nod off a little bit at church cuz like hey praise the Lord and also how are y'all helping our seniors with the affordability issues especially our black and brown residents
and our older adults who are too often house risk rich but cash poor. This is going to be a big deal. So, our older residents have given so much to this city. They have raised families. You all have raised families, built businesses, and made our communities places of belonging. This is about keeping a
promise to you and continuing to keep that promise. This is one step, but it's not all of it. That we will use every tool in the toolbox to help you remain in your homes and in neighborhoods that you love. Accepting this local option tax order,
class clause 41D, I know we do need a nice cuter name for it, um is an important step. It will allow us to adjust the income and asset limits for the senior property tax exemption each year based on inflation and it will happen automatically. Right? So like let's say this is something that we had
adopted back in 2003. The exemption limit which is 26,000 would have been 40,000 right now. So this modest increase over year-over-year is going to have a big impact long term. That means seniors will be less likely to lose access to tax relief simply because
social security slightly increases or your retirement income slightly increases or modest savings increases along the cost of living. And there are other cities that have done this from like Belmont, Brainree, Cambridge, Concord, Milton, Plymouth. I'm grateful to the mayor, to my council colleagues,
the administration, and our advocates, and the seniors who spoke up and helped move this forward and who continue to tell us tell us that there's so much more to do. We know there is more work ahead, including, as the mayor stated, broader senior property tax relief along with a transfer fee that would create millions of dollars, hundreds of million
dollars for affordable housing and continue advocacy on Boston's hormone petition. We need to make sure that our older adults can age in place with dignity. with dignity. But today, we should be proud of this step and the partnership that made it
possible. A News have invested so much in Boston. Today, Boston is investing in them. Thank you. And I'd like to call up my colleague, my co-sponsor on this uh local option tax order, Councelor Brian War.
>> Uh good morning everyone. Uh first and foremost, just want to thank uh Mass Senior Action Council. I feel like over the last few years, we've become tax experts. Um all the conversations around taxes um is much needed and today we get to see some fruits of that labor
actually being enacted in law that will show up in your lives and so many seniors lives uh very shortly. Also just want to thank my colleagues, uh, Mayor Woo, uh, Commissioner Shay, Commission, Commissioner Wong, uh, Council Lu Jen, Council Weber, uh, state reps, uh, Bandy
Fuka Reed, and Russell Holmes. And also just thank you to Council Lu Jen's staff, uh, for finding, uh, this, uh, optin. Let's give him a round of applause. Uh, one thing that was ringing in my head when I was thinking about this is my grandmother who always said, "Do you
know how much it costs to heat this old house?" Um, but that's why uh, every dollar adds up and it means a lot and when we could do something that puts money back into residents pocket. It's always feels good and great. So, thank you and looking forward to getting this
signed. pass it off to uh state representative Fluka Reed. >> Good morning everyone. >> Um first it's a pleasure to see you all in the blue and I love when y'all come to the state house. This your second home as was stated by councelor Lu Jen. So thank you for your advocacy. I'm just
super excited one for this fine. So shout outs to great amazing staff who doesn't stop digging um because it matters and also um this is very personal to me. Many of you know I'm my mom's only child. She is a senior who has been aging um from walking and
driving on her own to a walker now in a wheelchair. And um being able to stay in the home that she bought and y'all built these communities. I'm not against change, but I do think it's a problem when the people who have built our communities cannot afford to stay in our
communities. And that is why I'm just so grateful for this find. Um grateful to be the advocate at the state house for the transfer fee yet again. Hoping for good news in the near future. And just want to say thank you all for your advocacy. I my mom is a very old school southern woman and she's like y'all got to listen
to your elders. We know what we're talking about and y'all do and I'm grateful. So just thank you for your advocacy. Thank you for always showing up and showing out and hope the 41D relief is felt in those pockets cuz the groceries are high, gas is high, oils is high, light bills is high, water is
high, everything is high right now in a way that is I don't think we've seen it. At least not my lifetime we have not seen this type of inflation. So, um hopefully this gives y'all some relief and you can feel it and I look forward to continuing to advocate for what you say y'all need in the near future. And
with that, I'll pass it off to Miss Lily Brian. Oh no, was not talking. He didn't want to talk. He don't want to talk. >> Okay. I wasn't. >> So don't. >> No, I got you go. I'm gonna go. >> I just wanted to just say just a few words on uh just the challenge around
seniors. I can tell you when I I've been at the at the state house for 16 years and when I see the blue shirts coming very much like what Rep. Fluka Reed said just overtime. Now, it's been around housing, but I can just tell you the education even on health care when we were trying to pass uh pieces of healthc
care legislation. You guys were adamant about mass health, Medicaid, getting into the weeds, making sure that you guys gave us sheets of papers to say here's what actually happens in our life. And so, giving us things that continue to educate us to make sure that we're making practical decisions is so
so important. So, to Replar's point, to the mayor and all of my colleagues point, continue to advocate. It is just so important that we hear your voices. And I can just say I know often I hear just the hesitancy for many seniors around housing to even rent out your homes. Like you might have a three
family home or a two family home and still just hesitant because of the fact that you know that responsibility of what that rental challenge may be when you have someone in your home. And so I'm hoping things like this when you continue to make those conservative decisions and not necessarily go get rent that we can continue to try to as
these house housing prices that you may have bought I don't know 40 grand and now these things are worth $900,000. These taxes are very real. They hit you very hard and this $1,000 $2,000 we know mean a lot. And so thank you for your advocacy. And now to Rep. Flukar's
point, I'll bring up Lily Bryan from the Boston chapter, president of Mass Senior Action. minute. >> Good morning everyone. >> Good morning. >> On behalf of my senior action, I would like to say thank you to councelor Rupee
>> and her staff for bringing forward um this option along with the city council for their quick uh what you call that word? Um >> action. >> No. um unanimous >> I'm sorry for for the unanimous votes in
the mail for her support when she signs um this was signature along with Commissioner Sheay and her staff. This didn't happen because of one person. It happened because of many of you in this
room today who refuses not to stay silent when we face our problems alone. alone. We stays in isolation and we feel overwhelmed. But when we come together and speak up,
that's when we build power. The proof is so let's be clear that this does not um this 41D does not really solve the problem. It is just helps us to um with
the uh 41C going forward. Um, but I would it would help seniors who are struggling with property tax bills right now and it will protect seniors who have already qualified
from from losing their help that they have now. The income access limit for the senior's property tax exemption 41C have not been adjusted since 2023.
If they had raised this limited for the cost of living in those years, I know I would have qualified today and many of you in this room. Passing 41D
means that 20 years from now, other seniors would not have to go through this. The city council do not the city council did not have to get permission from the the state to pass this. We
still need the state house to pass the house petition which has already been sent over a year and a half ago. Our fight for this rent for re our fight for the real property
tax release is over. But today we celebrate and we say we what do we say mass senior action? We take charge. Thank you so much.
Just want to also just thank Common Square Health Center, um, President Fish for hosting us here today. Thank you all for having us, always being in making it available for us to have a great space. Thank you so much for having us this morning. >> No, for real. For real. Like, no. Yes.
Everybody got to get their window. Thank you all.