The Massachusetts Senate is expected to vote Thursday on a bill that would authorize more than $5 billion in borrowing to spur housing production and make numerous policy changes.
Local option transfer taxes have long been proposed on Beacon Hill, and the idea seemed to have legs this session — especially with a heavyweight in its corner, with the support of the governor. Healey and the Legislature are now more officially at odds over the idea, though the governor has been hesitant to publicly apply pressure to lawmakers over the policy.
One of those"sharpening" measures in the new bill that is a $50 million incentive for Community Preservation Act communities who have spent the state CPA dollars on housing, she said."196 cities and towns have a form of CPA, and that is an opt-in local option kind of tax. And it has not been working as well as it should have been," she said.
More than 10 other towns in her district are also considering how transfer taxes could work for their communities, Comerford said.Sen. Julian Cyr of Truro was also a vocal supporter of the fee, as communities on Cape Cod and the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket have sought to implement the policy.
"To overcome the housing crisis, leaders on Beacon Hill need to prioritize policies that reduce barriers to housing creation, which will in turn help generate production of homes across all price points," Greg Vasil, CEO of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board, said in a statement on Monday.
Edwards sponsored the bill this session that would prevent an eviction from becoming a permanent mark on an individual's housing record by sealing evictions from prospective landlords, who could use old cases to deny applicants housing.
In addition, the bill would raise the ceiling on year-round residential property tax exemptions, which Cyr also said is a lifeline for year-round residents on the Cape and islands, as it shifts a greater percentage of the property tax base onto second homeowners. Leah Robins, government affairs director at the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, said the agency was excited to see the inclusionary zoning measure included in the Senate bill, after the House excluded it from their housing bond bill earlier this month.
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