YOUR LOCAL NEWS & SPORTS ONLINE. SCAN HERE! Vol. 35, No.18 -FREEwww.advocatenews.net oca Free Every Friday City Council Honors Young Hero 781-286-8500 Friday, May 2, 2025 Mayor backs Tax Increment Exception for HYM to continue Suffolk Downs progress Advocate Staff Report M ayor Patrick Keefe and Chief of Planning and FUTURE CITY COUNCILLOR: Ward 5 Councillor Angela Guarino-Sawaya looks on as special guest recipient Paul Baglio bangs the City Council Presidents gavel after receiving a Certifi cate of Commendation from the Revere City Council “in recognition for his strength and determination in his battle against a rare form of cancer” on Monday evening. Shown looking on were family members, mom Jade, brothers Joseph and Anthony, dad Anthony and sister Makayla. See page 11 for City Council citation photo highlights. (Advocate photo) Love Our (Satter House) Calendar Girls! Community Development Tom Skwierawski met with the City Council this week to outline a Tax Increment Exemption (TIE) agreement between the city and HYM Investment Group. In order to move forward with financing the next piece of the Suff olk Downs development, the Portico building, HYM wants to show support for the project. They found that support in the state’s Housing Development Incentive Program (HDIP) — off ering state tax breaks on residential developments in “Gateway Cities.” However, developers must fi rst demonstrate local support with a break in local taxes. Revere’s TIE agreement on the table would run for 15 years and forgive between around $13 million in tax revenue. However, Skwierawski explained that the city was involved in a separate negotiation with HYM involving benefi ts for Revere, including $4 million in funding. Skwierawski repeatedly stressed HYM’s $4 million pledge to show the loss of revenue was not as severe as it might seem. Keefe spoke at length about the struggling economy and the construction industry, which has been especially hard hit. He spoke about workers in the trades across the board who have been sidelined by work stoppages. The Mayor emphasized the need to bolster HYM so that the development, which promised so much to the city, can be rebooted and thrive. Councillors were clearly frustrated with news of the TIE agreement. “This really rubs me the wrong way,” said Councillor-at-Large Michelle Kelley. “I began asking questions about the progress on the site, or lack thereof, about a year ago. Every time I raised concerns, I was told everything is fi ne and talk about problems were just rumors,” said Kelley. She went on to say that now the city is being told if TAX | SEE Page 3 GRIN AND BARE IT: Mayor Patrick Keefe and Ward 5 Councillor Angela Guarino-Sawaya (center) are shown with the lovely ladies of Jack Satter House who donned their “birthday suits” for their risqué calendar fundraiser during a private viewing during their guest appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show recently. See page 8 for story and photo highlights from the show. (Courtesy photo)
2 Publizr Home