The Boston City Council voted unanimously to hold a hearing to offer tax relief to residents 55 years and older and who have owned their homes for more than 20 years, and to “essential” municipal workers.

Offered by District 2 City Councilor Ed Flynn, the idea is to give relief to residents and employees who are finding it difficult to remain in the city due to the rising cost of living in Boston. He said the idea of the hearing would be to explore all methods by which the city could reduce the tax burden on qualifying residents.

This is after the state legislature blocked a measure from Boston Mayor Michelle Wu to reduce the burden, again, on residential taxpayers as office and commercial property values, and therefore their portion of the tax levy, go down. The result has been sharp increases in property taxes over the last two years: this year 13 percent and last year saw 28 percent. Both times, the legislature shot down efforts to decrease residential property owners’ share of the burden.

“Our essential municipal workers, they play a critical role in our city, they’re all our neighbors, they’re our little league coaches, they’re active in the PTA and they’re community leaders and do an incredible job working in the city, but they’re finding it difficult to stay in Boston with property taxes increasing significantly,” he said. “But this is an opportunity to figure out what relief we can provide them.”

Flynn said there are examples around the country and in Massachusetts. Detroit, for example, allows exemptions based on household income.

In Boston, there is already a residential tax exemption, for which you can still apply so long as you owned your property before July 1, 2025. The property must be your primary residence, and you must “actually occupy” your property. The exemption works by excluding a portion of your property’s value from taxation and is designed to shift the tax burden from people who actually live in Boston to investment property owners.

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For more information on this exemption, go to https://tinyurl.com/35457hzd

There are several other types of property tax exemptions offered by the city you can apply for this fiscal year. They include the Blind Exemption, the Hardship Exemption, elderly exemption, the Co-op Housing Exemption, the National Guard Exemption, the Veterans Exemption, the Surviving Spouse, Minor Child of a Deceased Parent, Elderly Exemption, the Statutory Exemption, and the Older Adult Property Tax Work-Off program. Go to https://tinyurl.com/38zvprzy for more information on all of these exemptions or call 617-635-4287.

“It’s critical that these residents stay and continue to contribute to Boston, and the city should explore a number of different policies to see how we can provide tax relief,” Flynn said.