Senate President Karen Spilka indicated Monday that the Senate will take up its version of a major housing policy and borrowing bill next week, but she declined to give any indication whether her chamber will include in its bill the local-option transfer tax that Gov. Maura Healey proposed but was left out of the bill passed by the House.
The latest proposal to let municipalities establish new, local-option sales taxes on real estate sales continues to be a bad idea. State legislators should strip the measure from Gov. Maura Healey’s housing bill until its problems can be remedied.
A proposed tax on high-value real estate transactions to pay for affordable housing would add an estimated 3,210 affordable homes in Massachusetts over five years, according to the governor’s administration – a drop in the bucket of the state’s 200,000 housing unit shortage.
It likely feels like “Groundhog Day” for the coalition seeking a transfer tax on higher-end sales after running into a brick wall in the House of Representatives.
Gov. Maura Healey’s housing bill boldly proposes a huge increase in affordable housing spending and equally needed policy reforms. But one provision, a transfer tax, would set Massachusetts back.
Instead of focusing on reforms that will boost our economy, the Healey-Driscoll administration is pursuing a policy that will further damage the state’s competitiveness: a new tax on home and building sales.
Million-dollar home sales just aren’t what they used to be in Greater Boston. And that’s a major problem for Gov. Maura Healey as she forges ahead with her proposal for a local-option tax on expensive home sales.
Despite vociferous opposition to the idea from trade groups, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu told a Beacon Hill committee Wednesday that many in the real estate community actually support her proposed transfer tax on property sales over $2 million.
From severe storms to nuisance flooding, Boston is facing accelerating costs from climate change. But fortunately, there are several ideas on Beacon Hill that would help pay for infrastructure to protect us.
While Beacon Hill searches for solutions to the serious housing shortage that fuels affordability concerns in Massachusetts, a real estate industry organization wants to see the Community Preservation Act program retrofitted to put a greater emphasis on housing production.
With a new legislative session has come new leadership to the state legislature’s Joint Committee on Housing: Sen. Lydia Edwards. She’s just starting her first full term, but she’s already established herself as a housing policy leader among her colleagues on Beacon Hill.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Maura Healey stayed noncommittal on proposals to authorize a real estate transfer tax to help fund affordable housing needs in the midst of a housing crisis.
The shortage of affordable and workforce housing is currently one of the greatest threats to the Massachusetts economy. Unfortunately, one popular idea – transfer taxes – have many unintended consequences that could do more harm than good.
It’s a tough time to be a renter in Massachusetts, and there’s no question something needs to be done, and soon. But it’s not clear there are many good compromises in the offing on Beacon Hill.
The solution is to create new housing supply, and the optimal time to raise necessary resources is when the market is strong and robust. And major employers are getting on board with the idea, too.
The Housing Committee is giving itself until May 9 to advance or reject legislation that would let municipalities to impose a fee on home sales above the statewide median to raise money for affordable housing.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu followed in her two predecessors’ footsteps by proposing a transfer tax on expensive homes and many commercial properties to raise more money for affordable housing.
This year on Realtor Day on Beacon Hill, the strength of our collective involvement will be on display via remote platforms as we head into what we hope is the home stretch of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Faced with a looming summer recess deadline, the House on Monday carved off 60 of the nearly 500 proposed amendments to its economic legislation.
For as long as these sales taxes on homes have been proposed, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors has opposed them. The reasons for our opposition are always the same: Transfer taxes increase the cost of buying or selling a home.
