Earlier this month, residents across Boston saw their property tax bills go up and, in some cases, skyrocket. There are several reasons for this, and all were avoidable.

The first reason is that the City of Boston Assessing Department unilaterally increased, in some cases dramatically, the assessed values of many homes across Boston. This was the data city officials refused to disclose when I sought this information last year during the mayor’s push to change tax laws at the State House.

That means homes that saw their assessed value go up, would have seen an increase in their tax bills, even if tax rates stayed the same.

The second reason property taxes went up is because city officials were never going to cut taxes. When legislation was sent from city hall to the State House last year it was billed as a residential relief proposal, though it came with the caveat that even if it passed, city officials planned to raise residential taxes on Bostonians by at least 9%.

That’s not residential tax relief. Increasing assessed home values and tax rates is the opposite of residential tax relief. Taxes are not assessed or raised arbitrarily, but to pay for government spending and programs. City spending has increased by 21% in the last 3 years and over $1 billion in the last 4 years.

The third reason is that city officials stacked tax increases into the first 2 bills of calendar 2025 instead of spreading them over 4 quarters. None of these actions represented residential tax relief, but instead unnecessary tax increases on property owners already struggling through an inflationary economy.

As the new legislative session begins, I am recommitting my efforts to support legislative solutions that deliver true residential relief as the legislature did last session by passing the largest tax relief package in a generation. Among those measures includes doubling the Senior Circuit Breaker Tax Credit for eligible property owners aged 65 and up.

Last year we also urged city officials to increase the local exemption for seniors. Though they initially objected, I was pleased to learn that the City Council has changed course and passed a Home Rule Petition to that effect last week.

Statewide legislation has also been offered to allow municipalities to use surplus funds to cushion the spike in 3rd and 4th quarter tax bills. I support that wholeheartedly.

Finally, I am encouraged that the mayor has filed new legislation to provide rebates to homeowners who unnecessarily saw an increase in their taxes. Though not part of last year’s tax shift proposal, it is something my colleagues and I recommended last year to provide real residential tax relief by using the city’s surplus funds.

This would resemble rebates offered by the Governor in 2022 when more revenue came into the state from the income tax levy than was allowed under state law.

The facts are that the City of Boston has been sitting on a massive surplus built up over previous decades. It should now be used to bring relief to taxpayers whose resources helped build it up so that our city’s finances could be strong. For property owners who feel they were overvalued by the Assessing Department, you can file an abatement application to lower your bill.

Visit https://www.cityofboston.gov/assessing/search/ for more information.

Applications are due by February 1st.

Senator Nick Collins represents the South End, Seaport and South Boston.