Massachusetts has awarded more than $10 million in tax credits to housing developers in Salem and Quincy based on their status as Gateway Cities even though the two communities no longer met the criteria for that designation, according to funding records obtained by CommonWealth Beacon.
The state’s Housing Development Incentive Program, or HDIP, awards tax credits to market-rate housing developers in Massachusetts’s Gateway Cities — a designation that comes with state funding opportunities. Gateway Cities were defined in state law in 2010 as any city with a population greater than 35,000 but less than 250,000, a median household income below the statewide average, and a rate of educational attainment of a bachelor’s degree or higher that is below the state average.
While they originally met the three criteria, the percentage of residents in Salem and Quincy that have a bachelor’s degree or higher now exceeds the state average. Salem has not qualified for the status since 2020, and Quincy has not qualified since 2016, according to the US Census Bureau’s five-year American Community Survey.
As cities that no longer meet the state’s criteria receive millions in tax incentives and grants, two other cities — Weymouth and Marlborough — have met all three criteria to be considered Gateway Cities under state statute, according to ACS data, yet they continue to miss out on the benefits of the designation.
Beacon Hill hasn’t made changes to the list of qualifying cities since 2013.
Sen. Patrick O’Connor, who represents Weymouth, is pushing for the city to be added to the list.
Weymouth’s mayor, Michael Molisse, said gaining the designation would be a big plus. “In these fiscal times, any help would be great,” he said.
State Sen. Jamie Eldridge, who represents Marlborough, said he’s also lobbying for the state to open up the process so Marlborough can be included.
“There are current Gateway Cities that have become wealthier, and if the general idea is that a Gateway City is supposed to be prioritized because it’s either less well off or is unable to do the investments on its own, how does that impact the bigger discussion about how to most wisely use our taxpayer dollars?” Eldridge said.
Published by MassINC