What can Massachusetts do about the lack of revenue, declining commercial real estate values?

BOSTON – Massachusetts Democratic Party Chairman Steve Kerrigan, fresh off the party’s annual convention last weekend in Worcester, joined WBZ-TV to discuss a variety of topics related to the economy.

The economic philosophy of the Democrats

“Our leaders and our candidates are the ones advocating for a stronger and fairer economy,” Kerrigan said.

Kerrigan was asked to define the party’s economic philosophy.

“I don’t know that we as a party have an economic philosophy. We have a platform and it’s about creating opportunities for people through things like a stronger education system,” Kerrigan said. “If you don’t have a good education, it’s going to affect your ability to get a job. If you don’t have health care, you’re going to be sicker and you’re not going to be able to go to work. So all these things play into how we can build a better economy.”

Decline in commercial real estate values

Kerrigan also serves as chairman of the Board of Selectmen in his hometown of Lancaster, and says they have been discussing a hot topic among government officials everywhere — how to deal with potential revenue shortfalls stemming from the sharp decline after pandemic in commercial real estate values.

“One of the priorities we have is diversifying our tax base so that residents don’t bear the brunt of the impact of rising costs,” he says.

Should Boston raise business tax rates?

Kerrigan declined to weigh in on Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s push for permission for the state to raise commercial tax rates to address any future shortfalls, a move that has drawn backlash from business interests big and small.

“I know the mayor is going to make some tough decisions to balance her budget,” he said. “It’s a very challenging job to be mayor of a city of that size at a time when we’re coming out of a pandemic, where massive office buildings that had a lot of people coming into town spending a lot of money in our communities are. closed or virtually empty and trying to re-imagine how a modern city works is not easy.

And when asked if the state’s Democratic Party is more liberal than voters, Kerrigan said “the parties on both sides are more [ideological] than the average voter. The average voter does not look at things monolithically and looks for…solutions and problems solved. They want results.”

You can watch Keller At Large, Boston’s most watched Sunday political interview, every Sunday at 8:30am.