How Will Boston Mayoral Candidates Fund Campaign Promises?
BOSTON (CBS) --- In the race for mayor of Boston, the candidates are making plenty of promises about improving programs and services.
But what about footing the bill for their vision?
John Connolly and Marty Walsh both claim they'll be on the lookout for new funding sources and more efficient ways of using the money the city already has.
But when it comes to new revenue sources, both men are more adamant about what they won't do than what they will do.
Connolly says he wants to see every police officer get real community training.
Walsh says he wants to get more officers on bicycles in neighborhoods.
On crime and other issues, both candidates have repeatedly called for new programs and new spending while saying little about how they'll pay for it.
"A lot of the new revenues are going to be by economic development, by attracting new business to Boston and growing some of the business we have in Boston, creating those opportunities. some of the programs I've been talking about, some of them are new, but some of them are also reconstructed programs," Walsh said.
But what about taking a look at the city's extraordinarily low property taxes, with residential property taxed at a lower rate than 242 other cities and towns, and commercial property tax rates ranked 19th in the state?
"Property tax is off the table," Walsh said. "It's just not the right thing, people pay too much, housing prices have gone up, our city's becoming too expensive for people to be able to purchase a home."
"The key part here is not to put it on the backs of Bostonians through the property tax," Connolly said. "I don't want to go that way. I think Beacon Hill has often tied our hands on what we do there."
Connolly and Walsh have debated who is better at containing costs but when it comes to identifying new sources to fund their plans, they've said next to nothing.
