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This week’s newsletter includes a reminder about the upcoming Child Tax Credit deadline and an explanation of two of the statewide ballot question positions I am supporting, and covers Village Center Zoning information at the library.
Our 2nd annual Indigenous Peoples Day celebration at Newton's Albemarle Field this past weekend was a huge success – even bigger and better than last year!
At the start of the month, I also held office hours at the Upper Falls Village Day. I barely had even a few minutes the entire 3-hour span of my office hours where I wasn't in a conversation with a resident about some issue, concern, or idea! It was great to see everyone who came out.
Maybe I’ll see you at the Harvest Fair in Newton Centre this Sunday. (No booth though.)
Don’t forget to email the City Council about Accessory Dwelling Unit Reform before Monday Oct 17th. I support the changes and wrote about it in my last newsletter.
Child Tax Credit Reminder – Spread the Word (Nov 15 deadline)
A note from CAN-DO and Josephine McNeil for anyone who might benefit from this information before the mid-November deadline: “There’s still time to get your Child Tax Credit and other federal money! Apply even if you have no income or low income and have not filed a 2021 tax return. What could I get? Up to $3,600 per child with the 2021 Child Tax Credit. Any missed COVID Stimulus Payments for you and your children/dependents – up to $1,400 per person. Am I eligible? You can get this money for children you are related to and caring for, even if you have never filed taxes or have not filed in the last few years, and even if you had little or no earned income. This is money for 2021, and more people are eligible to get it than in other years. How do I get this money? Generally, if you are single with an income below $12,500 or filing jointly as a married couple with an income below $25,000, you can file now at: GetCTC.org/can-do If you make above these amounts or may be eligible for additional money through full filing, you will be redirected to GetYourRefund.org. If you already filed a tax return and didn’t get your money, you can get help with other steps. Does this money count as income for benefits I get? This money does not count as income for most benefits, like SNAP, WIC, TANF, Medicaid, CHIP, SSI and most types of public and subsidized housing. You can get the tax payments and still get these benefits. What if I am an immigrant? Even if you do NOT have a Social Security Number, you can get payments for your children who have Social Security Numbers. Under current law, receiving the Child Tax Credit or other tax credits will not affect your immigration status, ability to get a Green Card, or future immigraiton plans. Had a baby in 2020 or 2021? You should sign up! Did you get monthly money from the IRS in 2021 for your kids ($250 or $300 per month per child)? That was just the first part of your money. You have to sign up again in 2022 to get the rest of your money. (GetCTC.org is a non-profit service built by Code for America. Learn more and get FREE help there.)”
(The sites are also available in Spanish. And you can also email Josephine at info@newtoncan-do.org for help as well.)
Yes on 1 for the Fair Share Amendment and Yes on 4 for Safer Roads
Question 1, the Fair Share Amendment, would create a 4% tax on the portion of a person’s annual income above $1 million and require – in the state constitution – that the funds be spent only on transportation and public education. With Question 1, the top 1% of Massachusetts residents — those making over $1 million a year — would pay their fair share in taxes. 99% of us won’t pay a penny more. And because Question 1 will be written directly into the state constitution, the money would be constitutionally required to go only to transportation and public education. That means $2 billion a year, every year, for better roads, safer bridges, reliable public transportation, and public schools from pre-K through college.
How does this affect residential real estate transactions? The short answer is that almost no one who sells a house will be affected in any way. Last year, less than 1% of home sales in the state generated enough of a gain to be affected by Question 1. Just 895 homes out of 100,000 sold, to be exact. That's because it's the gain in value since the house was originally purchased, not the full sales price, that is subject to income tax. Plus, home sellers can take advantage of multiple tax deductions to reduce their income tax burden: Someone selling a home can deduct up to $500,000 from their taxes on the sale of their primary residence. They can also deduct the entire cost of a renovated kitchen, an updated heating system, a new roof, or any other major improvements they made to the home. With those deductions, in order for a home seller to actually have $1 million in taxable personal income from the sale of a home, they would need to sell the home for at least $1.5 million over the price they originally bought it for. Only people selling the very priciest homes in Massachusetts would see their incomes rise enough to pay a single penny more with the Fair Share Amendment.
(The informational paragraphs above are from the campaign website, not my own text.)
It is also vitally important for Massachusetts voters to vote Yes on 4 for Safer Roads this fall to uphold the legislature's pending law to allow undocumented immigrants to follow the regular process to obtain a driver's license, so that our road safety can be strengthened. (Insurance requires a valid license.) Unfortunately the voter information guides via the mail from the Secretary of State's office were printed before the signatures from the opposition were certified, and so many voters will not have access to the official arguments for and against Question 4 (driver's licenses). 17 states (including neighboring NY, CT, VT, and RI) have legalized driver's licenses for undocumented residents because of the safer road benefits. Massachusetts would be wise to keep up by voting yes on 4 in November. The state Republican Party is the primary opposition group.
5 days left to visit the Newton Free Library exhibit from the City of Newton on village center zoning!
Zoning affects what can be built and where, which impacts sustainability, businesses, housing, and more. It regulates how land in Newton can be developed and what kinds of new buildings are allowed. For example, zoning can influence store and business activity through parking and density requirements, whether green space or public spaces are required in new developments, or the amount of housing supply near public transportation. The City is proposing updates to our zoning code to ensure active and vibrant village centers for decades to come.
To help understand the concepts being discussed and the rationale, you can visit an exhibit on the 2nd floor of the Library (Room C) through October 17th. It covers zoning history, each proposed zoning change, mapping zones in Newton, and the related but separate new MBTA Communities zoning law, and how zoning changes are made in the city. It also has an engagement table for community members to sit at, discuss the exhibit, and submit their input through the feedback tool on their cell phone, personal laptop, or a library computer.
The exhibit is open at the same time as Newton Free Library’s hours overall. If you’d like a guided tour to understand it even better, there are several available opportunities remaining:
Thursday, 10/13: 12 - 4pm, 5 - 7pm
Monday, 10/17: 10am - 6:30pm
Can’t make it to the library in time? Watch this 10 minute NewTV video to learn more and give your input here until October 17th. Learn more at https://newtonma.gov/zoningredesign/vc.
What is the City asking for input on? A set of proposed changes for the village center zoning, building upon the engagement takeaways from last summer. The Newton City Council’s Zoning and Planning Committee (ZAP) has given City staff the green light to further refine and get community feedback. This includes the types of zoning districts for village centers, allowed heights and parking requirements.
How do community members give input? You can offer input through the online feedback tool: https://tinyurl.com/ZoningFeedbackTool. (Click here for a PDF of the feedback tool, formatted for printing. Please note that this has lower visual quality than the online tool.) There are also two remaining Zoom focus groups for specific subsets of Newton residents: disability community (10/13),and high schoolers + young adults (10/17).
All of this feedback will be helpful to Planning Department staff ahead of the upcoming release of maps defining the proposed boundaries of the village center districts under the new zoning. Having a more clearly defined geography for these zones will likely result in better outcomes than our current “vibes-based” approach to what gets built on lots in or near central hotspots of economic and social activity.