Author: Leia Green

  • Rent control could soon be in the hands of Massachusetts voters 

    A measure that would slap restrictions on rent hikes across the state is hurtling toward the 2026 statewide ballot, pitting rent control advocates against Massachusetts’ largest real estate associations.

    The ballot question — which would tie rent increases to rises in cost of living with a strict cap of 5 percent — has gained traction amid an affordability crisis rocking renters throughout the commonwealth. 

    “Our communities are getting squeezed everyday by the corporate landlords who are coming in, buying up buildings and doubling the rent,” said Carolyn Chou, executive director of Homes for All Massachusetts, at a rally Tuesday. “We will not let that continue, and we are ready for change, for real change, for real affordability.” 

    Homes for All Massachusetts, the organization spearheading the campaign, claims to have collected 124,000 signatures, far exceeding the 74,574 needed to continue pushing the measure forward. 

    Supporters of the campaign — dubbed “Keep Massachusetts Home” — marked the cleared hurdle with a celebratory rally Tuesday, before shuttling more than 90,000 certified signatures to Secretary of State William Galvin’s office. 

    “Without stable, affordable housing, individuals struggle to secure jobs, maintain their health, and engage in community life,” Shanique Rodriguez, executive director of the Massachusetts Voter Table, said Tuesday. “But today we get one step closer to change, one step closer to truly affordable housing for all.”

    In Greater Boston, housing prices remain exorbitant, future unit construction is predicted to decline and the road to homeownership is steeper than ever before, according to a new housing report published by The Boston Foundation. 

    “How do you find affordable housing if you live in Massachusetts? You move to Texas,” said Steve Revilak, a Town Meeting member and member of Equitable Arlington. 

    The Arlington housing market — which boasts an average rent of $2,358 — has historically been friendlier toward “nuclear” families looking to buy than individual renters, said Revilak. “There are two classes of people today. You either own property or you don’t,” he said. “And the ones who own property, the houses print money like ATMs.”

    As landlords continue to hike prices to keep up with soaring market rates, proponents of rent control say the measure could alleviate the growing cost burden heaped on renters. 

    A recent Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll found that three out of five Massachusetts residents would back a law instituting statewide rent control. 

    However, the question still faces staunch opposition. 

    NAIOP, a trade association representing the real estate industry, claims the stringent measure would hinder housing production, hurt landlords and slacken property maintenance.

    “Every community in Massachusetts would be impacted by this,” said Conor Yunits, chair of the Housing for Massachusetts campaign committee. “Even those who don’t want it or haven’t asked for it. That’s a huge change.” 

    In 1970, the state Legislature passed a law to allow Massachusetts’ 351 municipalities to opt to allow rent control. Five communities – Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Lynn and Somerville — adopted the measure. 

    Statewide ban

    In 1994, residents narrowly voted to ban rent control statewide. 

    In past years, bills calling for rent control have repeatedly stalled at Beacon Hill, where most legislators double as landlords, according to the Boston Globe. 

    Major real estate associations in Massachusetts, including NAIOP, say the solution to the housing affordability crisis lies in increasing construction to meet skyrocketing demand, not in lowering the ceiling for rent hikes. 

    “Historically and across the board, rent control stifles new housing production,” said Yunits. 

    In St. Paul, MN, voters approved a ballot initiative to enforce a 3 percent cap on yearly rent increases in 2021 — one of the most aggressive rent control measures in the country at the time. 

    Housing production rates subsequently fell in following years, with 80 percent fewer units being constructed in the city in 2024 compared to the previous three-year average. The St. Paul City Council voted to roll back the measure earlier this year. 

    “In the long-term, [rent control] is devastating for investment in property maintenance,” said Yunits. “It’s devastating for the creation of new units.”

    Revilak said rent control is unlikely to fix the state’s housing shortage, an issue that is decades in the making and will likely take decades to solve. 

    However, most cost-burdened residents aren’t looking to wait another 20 to 30 years for some fiscal relief, he said. 

    “In the U.S., we have a history of passing questionable policies to benefit people at the upper end of the income spectrum,” said Revilak. “This is passing a questionable policy that will benefit people at the lower end of the income spectrum.” 

    “I don’t think this will be the end of it,” he added. “But I think it’s the right thing to do at this time.” 

    Landlords face costs

    If passed, the measure would ensure rent hikes do not exceed an annual increase in Consumer Price Index or 5 percent — whichever is lower. 

    According to NAIOP, CPI growth in 2024 was 2.9 percent. In the past two decades, the average annual CPI increase has been 2.5 percent. 

    “Think about a landlord or property owner who is only allowed to raise their rent 2.5 percent, but their insurance has gone up 10 percent, their utilities have gone up 7 percent and their property taxes have gone up 3 percent,” said Yunits. “Ultimately, they can’t justify maintaining or investing in that property.” 

    Revilak acknowledged the ballot question — as it’s written — does not accommodate for “extenuating circumstances.” 

    If a serious issue were to arise within a property, whether it be a failed boiler system or deteriorating plumbing, the law would prohibit landlords from raising rents beyond the imposed limit to pay for a fix, he said. 

    “If they find themselves in a position where they can’t maintain their properties, they don’t really have an out except for basically condemning them,” said Revilak. 

    Anthony Ennis, a landlord from Dorchester, said it’s the landlord’s responsibility to ensure money is stored away and available for utility issues and fixes. “That’s all part of the rent being paid in security deposits,” said Ennis. “You’re obligated to make it habitable for people to be able to live sensibly and not like animals.” 

    Ennis is a member of City Life, a non-profit providing free guidance for renters and owners being forced from their homes and one of the more than 40 groups supporting the ballot question campaign.

    He said the organization helped him fight to keep his Dorchester home after he fell into foreclosure in 2009. “Going through all of that, I noticed a lot of fear,” he said. 

    For those unable to absorb climbing prices, Ennis believes rent control is their “only shot.” 

    “Allow people to not have to choose between a rent increase and medical bills, a rent increase and the food in their refrigerator, a rent increase and the clothes on their back, their health care, their children,” he said. 

  • Organizations aim to harness momentum of 250th celebrations to build Arlington’s tourism sector

    The country’s 250th birthday has sparked record-breaking visitation at cultural institutions, introduced a flock of new customers to the town’s restaurants and given Arlington’s origin story — often nudged into the shadows — a moment in the sun. 

    “We’ve shed some light on Arlington’s history,” said Beth Locke, executive director of Arlington Chamber of Commerce. “There’s been some good buzz about it, and Arlington’s businesses have definitely benefited.” 

    While some municipalities have voiced concerns surrounding a lack of state funding for 250th celebrations, Arlington officials and cultural institutions say government grants have played a significant role in kicking off commemorative events, which have heightened excitement around the town’s tourism sector. 

    Some are looking to keep that momentum going. 

    “As a group, as a town, we are beginning to focus on more ways to get dollars being spent in Arlington,” said Locke. 

    Across Massachusetts, organizations big and small have invested generously in commemorating the milestone, said Jonathan Lane, executive director of Revolution 250, a nonprofit aiding efforts to coordinate 250th events throughout the commonwealth.  

    “There’s a real collaborative spirit coming out of the 250th, particularly here in Massachusetts,” said Lane. “That’s really what’s going to make us a winner in the end.” 

    The state’s role

    Through two rounds of a competitive grant program, the state has allocated $3.5 million to an array of municipalities and institutions to help fund 250th events.

    “The grant programs were specifically designed to bolster the tourism industry,” said Lane. “If you couldn’t pitch the idea that you were going to put heads in beds, chances of you getting the grant were pretty slim.”

    Lane said when the first 250th grant program — totaling $1.5 million — was rolled out in 2024, the state received over 130 applications. The combined fiscal amount applicants requested was just over $8 million, he said. 

    “That says everything you need to know about the desperate need and desire of these communities to do 250th anniversary-related activities,” said Lane. “As far as I remember, nobody got the amount they requested.” 

    Arlington received $100,000 in grants through the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism, according to Katie Luczai, Arlington’s economic development coordinator. 

    The state funneled $60,000 into public art, library programming and “increasing awareness” for the reenactment of the Battle of Menotomy, the longest battle of April 19, 1775. Another $40,000 was secured for the Foot of the Rocks Battlefield Memorial. 

    “The Town of Arlington has relied significantly on state funding and state level staffing support to make these celebrations possible,” wrote Luczai. 

    Matt Beres, executive director of the Arlington Historical Society, said state funding for the institution — primarily acquired through grants — is solely project-based. “We couldn’t be doing these projects without their support,” said Beres. “They are vital projects and they really help us in the long term.”

    These projects include the society’s commemorative exhibition, “Untold Stories,” which was unveiled April 19 and aims to spotlight often overlooked narratives hidden within Arlington’s history. 

    “There’s a lot more history outside the 250th that, frankly, doesn’t get talked about enough,” said Beres. 

    Lane views the anniversary as a chance to platform the thousands of stories of underrepresented historical players — including free and enslaved people of color, prisoners of war and women — who are too often silenced in stories of the state’s founding. 

    “We are afraid of the complexity of our history,” he said. “We are not always honest actors, to be sure, but at the same time, our founding narrative is so compelling.”

    “What happened here in the 1760s and 1770s absolutely changed the world.” 

    ‘A footnote in the textbooks’ 

    While town officials and cultural institutions say state funding has been “generous,” Arlington has had less luck securing support from its regional tourism office and recognition in history classes. 

    “We’re just a little bit disconnected,” said Locke. “We’re not on anybody’s top priority list.” 

    The state is divided into 16 individual tourism regions, each marketed by a Regional Tourism Council. Arlington is under the purview of Meet Boston, an RTC aiming to enhance tourism-related businesses in Boston, Cambridge, and the towns scattered near the cities’ borders.

    “Given that Arlington is included in an area so focused on Boston, it would be good to see a strategic plan from Meet Boston to give more attention to not just Arlington, but all the municipalities included in their region,” wrote Luczai.

    The attractions and cultural institutions in the towns beyond Boston cement the region’s status as a “top destination for travelers worldwide,” she added. 

    Meet Boston did not respond to a request for comment. 

    “The big towns, the towns that have a story that’s been out there for a longer period of time, Boston, Lexington, Concord, they’re certainly receiving the bulk of the attention,” said Locke. 

    This sentiment is reflected in the history books. 

    Arlington — the birthplace of Uncle Sam, site of the oldest free children’s public library, and battleground for the bloodiest battle of the Revolutionary War’s first day — is often forgotten in conversations centered on the country’s fight for freedom.

    The town’s “feuding” neighbors, Concord and Lexington, tend to steal the spotlight, said Beres. 

    “It’s easier to say Lexington-Concord, instead of Lexington, Concord and Menotomy,” he said. “We’ve never really had a leg in the race.” 

    The town’s name-changing habit — bouncing from Menotomy to West Cambridge and finally to Arlington in 1867 — may have also played a role in muffling its story, he added. 

    Beres, who hopes to see more of Arlington’s story taught in American classrooms, even as just a “footnote in the textbooks,” said the 250th has provided the opportunity to promote the town’s heritage. 

    “I want the town to get the proper recognition it deserves in the narrative,” he said.

    ‘Continue the momentum’ 

    Visitation to the Jason Russell House & Museum tripled this year, said Beres. On April 19 alone, a record-breaking 505 visitors shuffled into the museum. 

    While the 250th played a role in attracting tourists, a visit on July 4 from actor Kurt Russell, the sixth great-grandson of Jason Russell, helped up the numbers, said Beres. The actor’s visit to the historic home, where his ancestor was killed by British troops, drew global attention to the museum. 

    “We’re really trying to focus and continue the momentum into next year,” said Beres. 

    While it’s difficult to quantify a rise in tourism levels, Locke said she’s noticed an uptick in the number of people cycling down the Minuteman Bikeway — a sure sign the town has seen an increase in visitors. 

    Luczai wrote that planned community events, such as Arlington’s 250th birthday, Town Day and Octoberfest, always bring crowds of new visitors to the town’s cultural institutions. Collaborating with Lexington, Concord and Lincoln for 250th events also elevated Arlington’s status as a tourist destination, she added. 

    “We had some nice business overflow coming from the events in Lexington and Concord, because neither of those towns have a lot of restaurants,” said Locke. “Arlington was often the first stop.” 

    Some hope the town’s tourism sector will continue to grow, driven by the excitement of 250th commemorations. 

    “We’re not going to have another 250th anniversary, but we’re building more and more reasons to come to Arlington,” said Locke. 

    “We want to be more ingrained in communities,” said Beres. “We want more people to be involved, not just to help us out, but also to offer suggestions, offer ideas, so that we can reach more of the Arlington community.” 

    He also emphasized the importance of each donation to the museum, adding that up to 40% of the society’s day-to-day operating costs are covered by individual donations and income from admissions. 

    The historic sites and societies of Massachusetts “don’t exist in a vacuum,” said Lane. 

    “They need help and support, and we need to do more,” he said. “The heart and soul of what is being done for the Semiquincentennial is being done in communities by private citizens and private organizations all across Massachusetts.”

  • ‘MWRA needs to pay more’: Controversial proposal to reduce sewage in rivers triggers cost concerns

    A draft plan to tackle the decades-long issue of combined sewer overflows, which regularly spill raw sewage into Greater Boston waterways like Alewife Brook, has sparked outrage among advocacy groups and local legislators. 

    Concerns surrounding the plan — drawn up by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority and the cities of Somerville and Cambridge, known collectively as the Partners — run the gamut. 

    Some claim the proposal, unveiled late last month, would greenlight the continued flow of sewage into waterways, burden municipalities with massive costs and roll back years of progress to clean the region’s rivers. 

    “The latest draft plan from the MWRA still leaves people very much concerned that problems are not going to be sufficiently addressed,” said state Rep. Dave Rogers, D-Cambridge, whose district covers all of Belmont and parts of Arlington.  

    The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection urged the MWRA to reconsider the recommendations in a Nov. 17 letter.

    “MassDEP is concerned that Recommended Alternatives identified may be insufficient to address CSO discharges and associated impacts,” wrote Kathleen Baskin, commissioner of the Bureau of Water Resources at MassDEP.

    Baskin added that “an approach that would result in a greater number of [CSO] activations” than currently occur would violate the federal Clean Water Act and the Massachusetts Surface Water Quality Standards.

    Dumping raw sewage into the rivers is illegal under the Clean Water Act, however the MassDEP grants temporary variances to allow for limited discharges, under the condition that work is being done to curb overflows. 

    “The variance is not a ‘Get Out of Jail Free Forever’ card,” said Emily Norton, executive director of the Charles River Watershed Association, during a meeting addressing the draft plan last week. 

    “You have to show that you are making progress, real progress, toward eliminating the sewage discharges.” 

    Alewife Brook — which receives higher volumes of “completely untreated” sewage than any other river in Greater Boston — saw an estimated 19 million gallons inflow of combined sewage in 2024, according to the Mystic River Watershed Association. 

    When heavy rain overwhelms drainage systems, the six active CSOs lining the Alewife Brook capture excess stormwater and sanitary sewage in one pipe, before releasing both into the waterway. 

    When the brook’s banks overflow, raw sewage creeps into nearby parks, yards and basements. Around 5,000 people live in the brook’s floodplain, according to Kristin Anderson, co-founder of Save the Alewife Brook.

    Anderson’s previous home was located near the brook’s bank. After a downpour, sewage would seep through her back door, ushering in a small flood of used tampons, condoms and tattered toilet paper. 

    A 2024 study by Boston University’s School of Public Health found that residents in CSO-impacted communities are at significant risk of contracting acute gastrointestinal illnesses within four days of a sewage overflow event.  

    “I got really sick. My neighbors got really sick,” said Anderson. “It’s terrible. I don’t want that to happen to anybody else.” 

    Climate change, expected to intensify future downpours, will exacerbate overflows, said Paul Kirshen, a professor of climate adaptation at the University of Massachusetts Boston.   

    The CSO networks, many of which date back to the late 1800s, were designed to handle a lot less rainfall than what’s falling now, he said.

    “It’s designed to discharge untreated sewage into the brook,” said Anderson. “It’s not just what you flush down the toilet, it’s also industrial waste.” 

    The draft plan includes a proposal to declassify the water quality standards of the Charles River, Mystic River and Alewife Brook from Class B waterways to Class B (CSO), which, advocates argue, would permit the continued flow of sewage into the rivers. 

    While raw sewage cannot be discharged into Class B rivers, occasional sewage discharges are allowed in Class B (CSO) water bodies. 

    Advocates say a change in classification could jeapordize the possibility of eliminating combined sewer overflows altogether. 

    In response to the plan, the Charles River Watershed Association and the Mystic River Watershed Association filed a motion Tuesday to intervene in the 1985 federal lawsuit — U.S. v. Metropolitan District Commission — that kickstarted the cleanup of Boston Harbor and the long-term plan to control CSOs.

    “The Boston Harbor cleanup case brought the promise of swimmable, fishable waters in Greater Boston,” wrote Patrick Herron, executive director of the MyRWA, in a press release Wednesday. “This promise has yet to be fulfilled.”

    The press release claims the MWRA are looking to close out the case, despite not yet achieving required levels of CSO control.

    “MWRA has laid its cards on the table with its recent proposal,” wrote Norton in the press release. “Officials have made it abundantly clear that they have no intention of ridding the Charles River of sewage, as they are legally required to do.”

    The MWRA Board of Directors was slated to vote to approve the draft plan this week. However, following the backlash, the vote has been tabled. 

    “In order to address questions and comments that have been received from MWRA Board Members and the public, this item has not been included on the Nov. 19 Board Agenda,” the MWRA wrote in a statement. “Instead, it will be considered at a future Board Meeting after further information is gathered.”

    As the draft hangs in limbo, some advocates and local leaders are preaching a similar message.  

    “The MWRA needs to pay more,” said Anderson.

    ‘An impossible situation’

    CSOs lining the Charles River, Mystic River and Alewife Brook are either owned by Cambridge, Somerville or MWRA. The draft plan states the owner of each outfall would pay for the solution. 

    When it comes to reducing sewage in the Alewife specifically — which receives the highest volume of untreated sewage from a Cambridge-owned CSO and a Somerville-owned CSO — the MWRA said it expects to contribute around a third of the estimated $340 million project cost.  

    “A huge percentage of that cost comes on to [Somerville], and the costs are astronomical,” said Somerville City Councilor Ben Ewen-Campen, during a council meeting last week. 

    The infrastructure projects proposed in the draft plan would subject the city’s water bills to annual increases of up to 20% for a minimum of five years, he said.

    Instead of burdening individual municipalities with these costs, advocates and policymakers say MWRA could hike water bills for the approximately one million households under their jurisdiction to raise funds for sewage infrastructure projects. 

    “Storms don’t care about the municipalities,” said Ewen-Campen. “Sharing the burden among all these communities needs to be controlled by some kind of regional authority.” 

    Implementing widespread rate increases to reduce sewage overflows has been done before. 

    Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the MWRA raised approximately $5 billion by upping regional water bills in order to fund the court-ordered clean-up of Boston Habor and sewage infrastructure projects.

    MWRA’s investments slashed combined sewer discharges by nearly 88%. 

    “There’s a precedent,” said Somerville City Councilor Wilfred Mbah, during the meeting. “A billion dollars isn’t so much money when you can split it up among a million customers.” 

    Kirshen, who worked as a contractor with the MWRA for two years, said the agency should inform ratepayers — who would fund a sizable chunk of a potential project to end CSOs — how much the construction would cost. 

    “[The MWRA] live in a budget-constrained world, and it’s really up to the public if they want to bear the cost of total CSO elimination,” Kirshen said.

    “The public should see what it would cost to eliminate [CSOs] and understand how that would change rates,” he added. “Then the public can make an informed decision.” 

    MWRA claims the most stringent CSO control option — complete elimination — would cost roughly $7 billion, $3 billion of which would be paid by its ratepayers, according to the MWRA website.

    Citing cost and regulatory concerns, the Partners did not recommend the complete elimination of CSOs in the updated draft plan. 

    “We’re being asked to spend basically an impossible amount of money to burden ratepayers, to do a project that’s not even good enough,” said Ewen-Campen.

    The ‘least ambitious’ alternative

    The draft plan for the Alewife — involving eight acres of sewage separation, a micro tunnel and two underground storage tanks — aims to reduce sewage discharges into the river but would not eradicate them. 

    It’s the “least ambitious” alternative for the waterway, according to Save the Alewife Brook.

    “Those neighbors in the community who are impacted, what they really want to see is a plan to eliminate [CSOs] completely,” said Rogers, who has filed state legislation aimed at eradicating CSOs. 

    The sewer separation — the most “common way” of eliminating CSOs — would entail the construction of a second pipe only in the area tributary to CAM001, a Cambridge-owned CSO, said Cambridge City Engineer Jim Wilcox. Sanitary sewage would flow through one pipe to the Deer Island Wastewater Treatment Plant, while rainwater and snow melt would flow through the other into the Alewife Brook. 

    The underground storage tanks and micro tunnel — more complex infrastructure projects — would store combined sewage during rainfall events, before sending it to Deer Island, said Wilcox. 

    The projects — estimated to take 13 to 18 years to complete — would cut down the rate of sewage discharges. However, advocates are pushing for a greater level of control. 

    Save the Alewife Brook is advocating for either complete sewer separation or a 25-year storm control design, which would ensure CSOs only discharge sewage in rare storm events expected to occur every 25 years. 

    Wilcox said achieving that level of control would involve “much, much bigger projects than what is currently being proposed in the draft plan.” 

    The Partners have pointed to high costs and feasibility issues as obstacles to infrastructure projects that would achieve the highest levels of CSO control, such as expansive sewer separation and large underground tunnels. 

    “I’ve been in the Legislature for 12 years now, and for over a decade, like a mantra, they just repeat the difficulty and the expense,” said Rogers. “The difficulty and expense can’t be an excuse not to find a way through.”  

    A long time coming

    The updated draft plan presented by the Partners has been in the works for the past four years. Wilcox said project planners have met at least once a week throughout the yearslong process. 

    “It’s been a really good collaborative and cooperative process with both MWRA and Somerville,” he said. 

    In the five public meetings held throughout the plan’s development, advocates have proposed alternatives and shared concerns. The ultimate reveal of the draft was a shock to many. 

    “We study this stuff, and we try to understand it, and we do our best to help guide the process,” said Anderson. “Then we find out that they haven’t been listening to us at all.” 

    Wilcox said balancing the demands of advocacy groups with technical, fiscal and regulatory realities is “always a challenge.” 

    “We seek feedback, we listen to what people have to say, we take that into consideration,” he said. “Then you do need to look at what realistically can be done with the space that’s available, with the logistics of actually doing the construction, and the cost of the work.” 

    Advocates and council members say they worry the MWRA – created by the state Legislature in 1984 to tackle the region’s environmental threats — is losing sight of its original mission. 

    “A solution can be had and it’s going to cost money,” said Anderson.  “But the plan that they are proposing right now for the Alewife Brook, it will mean an increase in sewage pollution with no end in sight.”

  • Select Board discusses response to MWRA proposal to allow flow of sewage into Alewife Brook

    The Select Board voted to urge the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority to reject a draft sewage control plan that would sanction the continued dumping of raw sewage into the Alewife Brook through combined sewer overflows.

    “The plan does not achieve a level of control of CSOs in the future that we can be assured will reduce the volumes and exposures to people who both live or recreate in the area,” Patrick Herron, executive director of the Mystic River Watershed Association, said at the Nov. 10 meeting.

    The draft plan, unveiled in memo form by the MWRA Oct. 29, recommends “one balanced option” to control CSOs, into the Alewife Brook. When heavy rainfall inundates sewage systems, CSOs lining the brook capture and release raw sewage into the waterway, which, at times, seeps into the backyards and basements of Arlington residents.

    A proposal to declassify the water quality of the Alewife Brook, which would allow sewage to continue being discharged into the waterway, is also tucked in the draft, which will be considered by the MWRA Board of Directors on Nov. 19.

    The Select Board, at the request of Herron’s organization, agreed to send a letter to the MWRA Board and Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper signaling the town’s disapproval, preferring a plan striving for greater control of CSOs.

     “They’re really not valid plans,” said Select Board chair Diane Mahon.

    Hybrid 2 — the MWRA’s recommended option for Alewife Brook — would involve the construction of two underground storage tanks, a micro tunnel connection, and eight acres of sewer separation. The project, projected to take 13 to 18 years, would cost around $340 million, according to the MWRA.

    “It’s inadequate,” Rep. Dave Rogers, D-Cambridge, whose district includes part of Arlington and all of Belmont, said of the plan. “What people really want to see is a plan to eliminate [CSOs] completely.”

    Kristin Anderson, founding member of Save the Alewife Brook, said the proposal “does not come close” to eradicating CSOs into Boston-area rivers. “Instead, it proposes dumping considerably more sewage into our water bodies on an annual basis,” she said during Monday’s meeting.

    The Mystic River Watershed Association plans to file a motion to intervene in opposition to the proposal that is part of a lawsuit that kick-started intensive efforts to clean up the Boston Harbor.

    The 1985 case, U.S. v. Metropolitan District Commission, sparked the creation of a long-term control plan to disinfect the area’s waterways, leading to over $5 billion being funneled into sewage treatment and clean-up projects throughout Greater Boston.

    “That case was supposed to be done by now,” said Herron. “Unfortunately, at the end of all of that work, a number of those outfalls continue to discharge at rates higher than was allowed in that plan.”

    Despite sewage control goals for the Alewife Brook not being met, he said the MWRA is seeking to close out the case.

    “What we have at Alewife Brook is a public health crisis,” said Anderson. “MWRA must complete the job it started 40 years ago.”

    The Select Board will consider providing their written support for the legal motion once it’s filed, which will likely happen before Dec. 8.

  • Report outlines fiscal crisis rocking municipalities, Arlington expects sixth tax override

    A fiscal “perfect storm,” powered by rising costs, stunted state aid and property tax restraints, has pummeled municipalities and tightened budgets across the Commonwealth, according to a recent Massachusetts Municipal Association report.

    “There’s nothing inaccurate about it,” said Len Diggins, former member of the Arlington Select Board.

    The report, released last month, claims that a lag in state aid and Proposition 2½, a law capping property tax hikes, are upping the fiscal pressure on towns and cities, where various costs continue to skyrocket.

    Between 2010 and 2022, inflation-adjusted spending in Massachusetts municipalities grew by 0.6 percent per year, while the average local spending growth in the United States has been 2.8 percent per year.

    While state aid has risen each year, the hikes do not reflect the fiscal realities towns and cities are facing, said Adam Chapdelaine, MMA executive director and former Arlington town manager. As costs of services continue to outpace revenue growth, municipalities are grappling with how to ease burdens on their budgets and taxpayers. 

     “Those increases haven’t kept up with the pace of inflation,” said Chapdelaine. “That’s a result of the state having a lot of priorities to balance. Cities and towns of different shapes and sizes have been slowly eroding the services they can provide because of this convergence of factors,” he said.

    Amid a spate of federal funding cuts, budgetary conversations surrounding renewed commitments to local aid are expected to be difficult.

    “The state is doing as much as it can, given the demands from various areas on its resources,” said Diggins. “Two things can be true at the same time, that being the state is giving Arlington lots of aid and support, but it’s not enough.”

    An incoming override

    The report claims Proposition 2½, a state law restricting the fiscal amount a town can raise through property taxes, has shackled revenue across municipalities in past years.

    In Arlington, a heavily built-out town reliant on its property tax base, voters have paved temporary paths around these fiscal obstacles.

    Residents have voted for five tax overrides since the measure was passed in 1982, which have allowed the town to permanently hike property taxes beyond the state-imposed levy limit. The most recent override of $7 million, approved by voters in November 2023, will help keep municipal finances afloat until 2027.

    However, with a structural deficit of as much as $13.53 million projected for 2027, another override is slated to appear on the ballot next year.

    Chapdelaine said an unsuccessful override could catapult the town into a “budgetary crisis.” 

    “That’s the problem with an override, it’s always fleeting,” said Chapdelaine. “Even though it does increase the tax base permanently, it doesn’t increase the rate of growth permanently, so you are always eventually going to be at a point where you need to pursue one again.”

    Plans to diversify revenue streams in Arlington may present significant challenges, as property taxes feed three-quarters of the town’s budget, while the commercial and industrial sector accounts for just 6 percent.

    To achieve new growth, the town has pressed for the early adoption of an MBTA Communities Overlay District to allow for the development of multi-family housing in certain areas. However, a host of “economic and market factors” stand to influence private development, according to the town’s 2026 fiscal budget.

    “We do not have a large business base that other cities and towns can count on,” said state Rep. Sean Garballey, a Democrat. “That is another part of the conversation that I know town leaders have often.”

    While concerns surrounding a growing tax burden on homeowners swirl, Diggins warned Arlington’s high bond credit rating is partly tied to the town’s reliance on property taxes and a limited commercial sector.

    As businesses are more “susceptible to economic cycles,” an influx could shake up the town’s stable tax base, he said.

    “The value of houses tends to change much less than the value of businesses, even during economic downturns,” said Diggins. “Be careful what you ask for, because it may help in the short run, but be challenging in the long run.”

    Not in a ‘position to make promises’

    The MMA will release formal policy recommendations for the state later this fall, which are expected to center around increased flexibility surrounding Proposition 2½ and a reinvestment in local aid, said Chapdelaine.

    However, as funding cuts to critical state programs persist, Massachusetts may not have the fiscal power to ensure funds funneled into municipalities are in line with the current inflationary environment.

    The Legislature is not in a “position to make promises” surrounding local aid, said Garballey.

    “We’re going to be in a position to have to make very difficult choices when it comes to health care and other areas, but we are going to make those decisions based on making sure that we don’t cut safety nets for millions of people across the commonwealth,” he said.

    The second largest chunk of Arlington’s revenue base comes from state aid.

    In the 2026 state budget, Arlington received just under $9.5 million in Unrestricted General Government Aid, flexible funding distributed to municipalities for non-school-related expenses. This represents a 35 percent increase since 2016.

    The Legislature also approved $1.2 billion in infrastructure funding earlier this year, resulting in a 50 percent increase in Chapter 90 funding. Arlington is projected to receive “record levels of investment,” over $1 million in funds, to repair roads and bridges, according to a statement from state Rep. Dave Rogers, a Democrat.

    “I appreciate the enormous investments that the Legislature has recently made in the 24th Middlesex District,” wrote Rogers. “I think they demonstrate that Arlington has received steady growth over time.”

    When adjusted to account for inflation, the report claims UGGA has dropped by 25 percent since 2010. While cities and towns across the country receive an average of 31 percent of their revenue through state aid, Massachusetts municipalities feed just 26 percent of their budget with state funds.

    Arlington is expecting a “modest” total increase of 0.99 percent in state aid, according to the town’s budget for the 2026 fiscal year.

    “We’re acknowledging the uncertainty of the times and the stress that the state budget is under,” said Chapdelaine. “At the same time, we’re trying to say loud and clear that the local government is the foundation of the whole thing.”

    “If we don’t invest in the foundation, there is a risk of everything crumbling,” he said.

  • As solar advocates push for streamlined permitting, installer claims Arlington remains ahead of the curve 

    In the face of federal attacks on the clean energy movement, players in the Massachusetts solar industry are pushing for state reforms to smooth out bumps in the solar installation process. And one particular barrier is weighing heavy on the minds of installers and advocacy groups alike. 

    “Permitting is the state’s biggest blocker when it comes to residential installation,” said David Bridge, president of Great Sky Solar, a local installer based in Lexington. “Arlington is easily the best town to operate in in the state. The main problems the state has are problems that Arlington has solved.”

    Each of Massachusetts’ 351 municipalities require different permits, installers say. Some claim the decentralized system entangles installers in red tape, exacerbating delays, costs and administrative burdens. 

    On Thursday, advocates urged Massachusetts lawmakers to pass a slew of clean energy bills directed at expanding and improving the state’s solar sector during a meeting held by the Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy. 

    A bill pushing for the statewide introduction of an online permitting software drew support from an array of industry figures advocating for expedited permit applications. 

    “This legislation would modernize and streamline residential solar permitting,” said Trish Fields, executive director of the Solar Energy Business Association of New England, during her testimony. “It seeks to make solar easier to deploy, more affordable and more equitable across the commonwealth.” 

    If passed, the bill, an act to facilitate distributed energy resources in the commonwealth, would implement the Smart Residential Solar Permitting Platform, an online software that issues permits instantly for residential solar photovoltaic systems. 

    As of July, 125 jurisdictions in Massachusetts still required in-person permitting. 

    Arlington employs an online system which enhances efficiency, said Bridge. Great Sky Solar completes 20 to 30 projects in the town each year. 

    “Arlington uses permitting portal OpenGov, which is the easiest permitting portal to navigate through,” said Byron Johnson, a project manager at Great Sky Solar. “Other towns use more challenging permitting portals that make it hard to have an open communication with the administrators and inspectors.” 

    When applying for a permit in Arlington, the average turnaround from submission to issuance is typically a week, said Johnson. In other jurisdictions, it can sometimes take months.

    James Manzer, senior solar designer at regional installer ReVision Energy, said streamlining permitting in the commonwealth would reduce non-hardware expenses, which include labor and administrative costs. 

    “If you want to decrease the costs of solar, lower the soft costs of permitting,” he said. 

    Advocates asserted that lightening the bureaucratic load lugged by installers will help mitigate the impact of federal actions aimed at dismantling the clean energy industry. 

    “Federal rollbacks and declining tax incentives threaten local companies’ clean energy jobs and progress toward the state’s climate goals,” said Fields. “That’s why state leadership is essential.” 

    The passage of the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July cut the lifespan of residential solar tax incentives short, leaving residents across the country scrambling to panel their roofs before the 30 percent tax credit expires on Dec. 31. 

    Bridge said Great Sky Solar has seen a 250 percent spike in interest since the legislation was passed.  

    “We’ve seen some concerns increase, with people trying to access the credits before they expire,” said Talia Fox, sustainability manager for the town of Arlington. “It’s something on people’s minds.” 

    After the credit is slashed, installers expect customer interest to initially wane, before eventually bouncing back. 

    “The tax credit was nice to have, but it wasn’t necessary to have for the adoption of solar, because unfortunately our electricity costs are so high,” said Bridge. 

    Eversource, the provider supplying approximately 640,000 Massachusetts residents with energy, has announced customers will face a 13% price increase this winter. The average bill is set to rise by about $41. 

    An aging grid, influx of power-hungry data centers and increased demand for energy will likely cause electricity costs to continue climbing, according to clean energy advocates. 

    Installers and activists believe solar, a quickly accessible and readily available energy source, will play a significant role in meeting the skyrocketing demand. 

    “Renewables are as powerful as they’ve ever been,” said Manzer. “We plan to be here for a long time.”

  • Arlington students, teachers advocate for mandatory financial education

    How do you set up a long-term financial plan? How do you tackle credit card debt? How do you pay off your student loans? 

    These questions left over 100 students at Arlington High School stumped. 

    Yaxin Zhang, a senior at Arlington High and founder of financial literacy nonprofit Project 57, surveyed around 300 of her peers on their basic financial knowledge earlier this year. 

    She found that nearly all surveyed students felt financial education was important, around 30% were confident in their financial literacy skills and roughly 20% were actually financially literate. 

    Zhang presented her findings to the Legislature’s Committee of Education during a Sept. 16 hearing on a bill to require financial education in schools, backed by nonprofits, students and educators concerned young people are entering adult life financially ill-prepared. 

    “These survey results are symptoms, not the diagnosis,” said Zhang during her testimony. “The financial illiteracy epidemic will continue to spread across our districts if we continue to stagnate.” 

    The proposed legislation calls for the establishment of a financial literacy trust fund, fed by private and public sources, which would support mandatory financial literacy courses in elementary, middle and high schools across the state. 

    “Massachusetts prides themselves on having a strong educational system, yet we fail in this area.” Ian MacKay, personal finance teacher at AHS

    “It’s been a long-time coming,” said Cedric Turner, founder of financial education nonprofit Empower Yourself LTD. “There have been people pushing this for years.” 

    A slew of bills focused on ramping up youth financial education have been pitched in the past decade, but none have successfully instituted a financial literacy requirement. 

    While 35 states require high school students to take a course in personal finance to graduate, Massachusetts is not one of them. 

    “[We are] behind the eight ball on this,” said Ian MacKay, a personal finance teacher at Arlington High. “Massachusetts prides themselves on having a strong educational system, yet we fail in this area.” 

    If passed, the legislation would likely impel schools to funnel resources into recruiting and training finance and economic teachers. 

    “There is a financial cost to it, but most states do it,” said MacKay. “Massachusetts can do it too, if they so choose.” 

    Squeezing another mandatory course into tightly packed student schedules may prove to be a challenge, said Michael Kozuch, director of history and social studies at Arlington High. 

    “If this bill was to pass, the question would become what would we give up?” said Kozuch.

    Despite potential obstacles, both Kozuch and MacKay believe financial education will help reduce the number of students tangled up in financial distress and crime. 

    In 2024, New Englanders lost over $446 million to internet crime, a 43% rise from 2023, with investment fraud responsible for the largest chunk of the losses, according to the 2024 FBI internet crime report. Massachusetts residents alone reported more than $338 million in losses. 

    “[Students] need to understand how the system works, so they are not vulnerable to corporations that want to take advantage of them,” said Kozuch. 

    Arlington High currently offers two personal finance courses, Introduction to Personal Finance and The Economics of Personal Finance. The latter is a Syracuse University Dual Enrollment course introduced to the school by MacKay around seven years ago. 

    Between 25 to 75 students typically take a personal finance course each year, said MacKay. This year, roughly 100 students enrolled. 

    Zhang said she has noticed an uptick in the number of young people seeking to understand financial systems. 

    “[Covid-19] exposed a lot of the economic weaknesses in our system, and the financial vulnerability of many families,” she said. “As we move into the Trump administration, there’s been a lot of confusion over student loans, tariffs, inflation, and the economy.” 

    When students do not elect to take an economics or finance class, they are left to learn about money from their parents. 

    MacKay said this can lead to significant equity issues, as children with financially irresponsible parents and no access to a basic financial education tend to inherit poor money habits. 

    “It’s the students who don’t think about money, who don’t care about money, they are more likely to find themselves in financial distress in their lives,” said MacKay. “I need to reach the students who aren’t being taught at home.”