BOSTON — As Boston homeowners are warned to brace for yet another property tax increase, Mayor Michelle Wu has been eager to assign blame. Her preferred target is state Sen. Nick Collins. But the numbers point elsewhere — directly at City Hall.

Since FY22, the year before Wu took office, Boston’s operating budget has grown from roughly $3.76 billion to a proposed $4.8 billion for FY26. That’s nearly $1 billion in added annual spending in just four years. It didn’t happen overnight, and it didn’t happen by accident. It was the product of policy choices that expanded payrolls, programs, and long-term commitments across city government.

Now that the bill is coming due, Wu is insisting higher taxes are unavoidable — and portraying the one lawmaker demanding transparency as the obstacle.

A bigger City Hall, a bigger tax bill

Under Wu, Boston added hundreds of city positions, expanded management layers, and grew the scope of municipal government. Climate initiatives, transportation projects, fleet electrification, and new administrative offices carried significant upfront costs and long-term obligations. Some initiatives were partially offset by federal grants, but the ongoing operating, maintenance, and staffing costs remain on Boston’s books.

Against that backdrop, homeowners are facing a projected double-digit tax hike, with the average single-family home expected to see a roughly 13 percent increase. Wu’s response has not been to point to restraint or belt-tightening. Instead, she is pushing Beacon Hill for special legislative authority to alter tax rules on an accelerated timeline.

What she rarely acknowledges is that taxes are rising alongside a city government that grew rapidly during her tenure.

Collins asks for the math

Nick Collins hasn’t opposed tax relief. He hasn’t waged a public campaign against City Hall. What he has done — consistently — is ask for the full numbers.

Collins has pressed the administration to release complete property-valuation data, long-term spending assumptions, and the modeling behind Wu’s urgent warnings. He has questioned why lawmakers are being asked to act before all the details are publicly available, and what the long-term consequences could be for residents and businesses alike.

For that, Wu has made him the villain.

Rather than addressing those questions head-on, the mayor has publicly singled Collins out, accusing him of misunderstanding the situation and framing him as the reason homeowners are hurting. It’s a political strategy that shifts attention away from City Hall’s own spending record — and toward the one person refusing to rubber-stamp the solution.

Urgency without transparency

Wu and her team have shared projections and issued dire warnings. What they have not done is release the full underlying data lawmakers say they need to independently evaluate the proposal before voting.

Beacon Hill is being asked to act fast, even as details continue to trickle out. For critics, that raises a simple question: if the numbers so clearly justify Wu’s plan, why not put them all on the table first?

And it’s not just abstract numbers. Just this month, taxpayers learned City Hall spent more than $13,000 on a Christmas tree and holiday photo op — a cost that ballooned well beyond what was initially disclosed. For residents being told there is no alternative to higher taxes, the episode served as a pointed reminder of how freely money still flows for optics — even as City Hall preaches urgency and sacrifice.

Collins’ insistence on that basic disclosure has slowed the process — and exposed a tension Wu seems increasingly impatient with: legislative scrutiny.

“No kings” — unless City Hall is in a hurry

The contrast is striking.

Earlier this year, Wu took the stage at Boston’s “No Kings” rally, delivering a fiery speech against executive overreach and centralized power. She warned against leaders who confuse urgency with authority and demand obedience instead of accountability.

Yet at home, the mayor is pressing for special authority, attacking a state senator for asking questions, and urging lawmakers to bypass the usual deliberative process — all in the name of speed.

No kings in Washington. But when it comes to Beacon Hill, Wu seems far less tolerant of checks and balances.

Higher pay at City Hall, higher taxes for residents

Compounding the optics, Wu now earns $250,000 a year as mayor, following a council-approved salary increase that took effect during her administration. The raise coincided with a period of rapid budget growth and expanding City Hall payrolls — even as residents are now told higher taxes are inevitable.

For many homeowners, the contrast is hard to ignore: a bigger government, higher costs, higher pay at the top — and a shrinking margin for the people footing the bill.

This isn’t about Nick Collins

Strip away the rhetoric, and the story is straightforward.

• Boston’s operating budget grew by nearly $1 billion since FY22.
• Taxes are now rising sharply.
• The mayor is demanding urgency without full transparency.
• And the one lawmaker asking to see the math is being blamed.

Nick Collins didn’t expand City Hall’s payroll. He didn’t grow the budget by nearly 30 percent. He didn’t commit the city to costly long-term obligations before the revenue picture was clear.

He’s asking for transparency. For scrutiny. For lawmakers to do their jobs before reaching deeper into residents’ pockets.

Wu wants trust and speed. Collins wants the numbers.

Boston taxpayers deserve the latter — because that’s why taxes are going up.

And it’s not because of Nick Collins.