After scanning thousands of bills filed on Beacon Hill that legislators hope to pass to right a wobbling economy, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors (MAR) will put most of its weight behind four initiatives – and try to scuttle a proposed tax for the islands.

MAR will oppose a real estate transfer tax proposed by the six towns on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Island. The 1 percent tax will fund an affordable housing “bank” that will lower costs for people making up to 150 percent of the area median income.

Proponents of the bill claim this will lower housing costs for local firefighters, police officers and teachers in the island communities, who have been priced out of the towns they work in because of the luxury homes that dominate the landscape.

“The people in these communities have put them forward because they see it as a way to keep an actual community on the islands,” said Rep. Timothy Madden, D-Falmouth, who has filed the corresponding home rule petitions in the House the last two years. “The bill is a local option that the people will have to vote on to tax themselves. And if the people vote to tax themselves, they will have a darn good reason to vote on it.”

Not So Fast

But MAR is opposing the bill, arguing it is an unreliable and inequitable revenue source.

“It’s a tax that benefits everybody in the town, but it’s only paid for by the people who are buying and selling property,” said Michael McDonagh, associate council for MAR. “We feel strongly that a transfer tax on real estate would have a detrimental effect on the state’s overall economy. We don’t feel it’s good tax policy.”

McDonagh expressed concerns that if these home rule petitions passed on the islands, other Massachusetts communities would consider the option to fund affordable housing instead of using other mechanisms already in existence, like the Community Preservation Act.

“The goal is definitely a great thing, but it’s the method of doing that, we have a fundamental problem with,” McDonagh said. “It could ultimately lead to an increase in the cost of housing, which is already problematic for some folks who are on the lower end of the housing spectrum. It will be just another cost [added] on the overall cost of housing.”

Madden pointed out that the tax proposed in his home rule petitions, which are filed with Sen. Robert O’Leary, D-Nantucket, exempts up to $2 million for first-time homebuyers. The islands already have a transaction tax to fund a land acquisition bank so the towns may preserve open space on the islands.

He argues it’s unlikely other towns across Massachusetts would stand to make any substantial revenue from the tax, but if they chose to create a home rule petition, it would still have to be passed by a ballot initiative.

“If the people from other towns opt to self-impose a tax on themselves to pay for affordable housing, what’s wrong with that?”

Back To School

MAR is supporting two measures that would increase education requirements for Realtors.

The first bill would increase the number of hours of classroom instruction required to receive a real estate license from 24 to 40. To become a broker, the new requirements would also increase the time as an active salesperson from one year to three.

A second bill would increase the number of continuing education credits required for license renewal from 12 hours every two years, to 20 hours.

“We’ve done a lot of research, and looked at the requirements at every other state, and now we’re toward the bottom as far as our requirements,” McDonagh said. “This would bring us more in line with the other states.”

McDonagh said MAR was not aware of any complaints about undereducated Realtors, but said with so much information available and more and more designations being created, the initiatives were healthy for the industry.

“I don’t think it’s overly burdensome, what we’re doing,” he said. “The benefit really runs to the consumer, and the practitioners themselves. They’re getting a broker or salesperson who is more informed.”

Psst, I’ve Got Some Copper

MAR is also supporting a bill filed by Attorney General Martha Coakley to stem the theft of copper and other appliances from abandoned homes and foreclosures. The bill would create a statewide foreclosure registry, to heighten police awareness of abandoned homes in their communities, and second-hand metals registry, forcing scrap metal brokers and pawnshops to register with the state and track their purchases.

Emily LaGrassa, a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office (AGO), said Senate President Therese Murray has taken a personal interest in the bill, and is helping the AGO iron out the details on just how both undertakings would be managed

“The [registries] do go hand-in-hand, and we’re really thrilled that the Senate president is working hand-in-hand with us on this,” she said.

MAR will also support the SCOPE bill, or the Selling City Owned Properties Efficiently program. It will allow municipalities to sell property on the open market quickly through the use of Realtors, instead of having to wend their way through the Request For Proposals (RFP) process.