The real estate transfer fee that has long been at the top of the wish list for housing advocates on the Cape and Islands has failed to pass muster with state lawmakers after another legislative session.
After failing to make the end of the formal session deadline this weekend, it’ll now be at least another two years before the transfer fee could be an option for cities and towns, despite widespread voter support locally.
Cape and Islands state Senator Julian Cyr says he’s discouraged by the lack of progress.
“I’ll be really honest, this has been heartbreaking. I see every day the challenges that Islanders and Cape Codders are having being able to afford a life here,” Cyr said. “I’ve been living this too. What we are simply asking for, are the tools that have been used [in other seasonal communities] that just make a ton of sense.”
Cyr has been a longtime proponent of the measure, telling CAI that it has been his top priority.
“I am deeply worried about what waiting for another two year session is going to mean for Islanders and Cape Codders who are barely hanging on,” Cyr added. “I intend to keep at it as long and as challenging as this has been."
The option of a transfer fee would allow cities and towns to place a small tax on high end real estate transactions that would go toward developing affordable housing.
Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard — where voters of all six island towns, in a rare show of unity, voted in support of creating a housing bank that would use funding revenue generated by the transfer fee — have long supported the measure, as well as other communities on the Cape like Chatham and Provincetown. More recently, Barnstable County government elected officials have also supported the measure.
But some real estate executives across Massachusetts have lobbied against the legislation.
Cyr also worries that interest from other larger communities, like Boston and Somerville, may be making it more difficult for the Cape and Islands to get this legislation passed.
