beantown counter
More than 50 percent of property in the city of Boston — state buildings, church grounds, college campuses, etc. — is tax exempt. These charts, stats, and graphs illustrate Boston’s property tax addiction: rising costs, a declining real estate market, and state restrictions on how much cash the city can collect.
[FIGURE 1]
Who owns what
Residential
65%
Residences account for most of Boston’s land value.
$56.6 billion
business
35%
Total Property value
$30.2 billion
$86.8 billion
2009
$2.26 billion 2011
on ca ch Bost
2007
$2.16 billion
u
How m
$2.17 billion
ct n colle
2011
$1.54 billion
on collects How much Bost
2009
$1.38 billion
2007
$1.27 billion [FIGURE 6]
How much boston can levy Boston could face trouble if it needs to collect more property taxes than it is entitled to by state law.
2012
2010
$2.3 billion
2009
[FIGURE 2]
$2.39 billion
Who Pays what
$2.4 billion
Businesses pay the bulk of the property taxes.
2007
$2.19 billion
Residential
[FIGURE 5]
39%
How much boston spends
$601 million
$1.86 billion
$1.54 billion
61%
$938 million
Boston’s total budget is on the rise, but the amount of money the city can raise through property taxes is limited.
2003
Total Property taxes business
2011
$1.6 billion
[FIGURE 4]
How much property is worth
2008
The residential property market has leveled off and is in decline — casting a shadow over the city’s primary revenue source.
$1.5 billion
$59.29 billion $44.31 billion
17,277
$1.2 billion 2011
$56.53 billion
2004
2009
2004
2007
2001
$29.23 billion
cost of city workers
20011
16,277
RESIDENTIAL
2004
16,055
Number of city workers
[FIGURE 3] 2011
$30.2 billion
BUSINESS 2001
$21.27 billion
2007 2004
$27.22 billion
$21.83 billion
DATA from boston municipal rese arch bure au and the cit y of boston; GR APHIC BY TAYLOR ARGENZIO
How much city employees cost The price of city workers is skyrocketing, even though the city has slashed jobs to cut costs.