Like New York, Boston’s leaders have been mulling the idea of congestion pricing. Charging a fee to drivers, proponents claim, will help the city tackle pollution, traffic and boost use of public transportation.
So why did New York just ditch their congestion pricing plan?
The $15 toll was due to start on June 30, and Gov. Kathy Hochul explained the decision to hit the pause button indefinitely in a video announcement Wednesday, as the New York Post reported.
“Let’s be real a $15 charge .. puts the squeeze on the very people who make this city go,” Hochul said.
“I cannot add another burden to working middle class New Yorkers or create another obstacle to our continued economic recovery” from the COVID pandemic, she added.
Red Sox/Yankees rivalry aside, New York just hit a home run.
Ordinary citizens, those without deep pockets, are often of little importance when it comes to decisions to cut emissions, or reduce traffic, or tweak the design of a city.
But, as Hochul noted, there are real people in those cars.
“I think the Post spotlighting the real concerns of working New Yorkers definitely impacted the conversation. It’s tone deaf to charge New Yorkers $3,600 every year when they can’t afford to put food on the table,” a source familiar with the governor’s thinking said.
“She just doesn’t think we can ask New Yorkers to pay a new fee at a time when the cost of living has gone up so dramatically.”
Would that all leaders took this into consideration when spiking taxes or adding fees or taking other action that further burdens working Americans who are struggling to get by.
Another source close to Hochul’s office added: “The governor is concerned about the economic recovery in Manhattan.”
We’re not immune to concerns about economic recovery. Downtown office space is still feeling the effects of remote working as buildings stand all but empty. We need to give companies incentives to get workers willing to head into Boston and fill those offices, or come up with feasible plan to convert the spaces.
Instead, the city council greenlighted Mayor Michelle Wu’s bid to hike Boston’s commercial property taxes beyond allowable limits on Wednesday.
Opponents point out the burden this move would have on businesses still struggling to come back from the pandemic.
“It sends the completely wrong message to businesses, especially at a time when we want to be competitive and we want to be able to provide all the necessary services property taxes provide us,” Councilor Erin Murphy said. “In fact, if we were Worcester or Providence or even Charlotte, North Carolina, I’d be absolutely thrilled with this proposal. It makes their sales pitch so much easier.”
A thriving business district brings people to the city, and fuels businesses who provide goods and services to office workers, such as restaurants. Making it even harder to recover from the pandemic isn’t good for anyone. Except, as Murphy noted, other states without such commercial tax burdens.
Mayor Wu’s tax bill is heading to Beacon Hill, let’s hope cooler heads prevail.
