Action Alert! Ask Your State Representative to Support Amendments 21 & 20 to the Short-Term Rental Bill to Help Produce and Preserve Affordable Housing!

Today, the Massachusetts House of Representatives will vote on An Act Regulating Short-term Rentals, H.4314, to tax and regulate short-term rentals, such as Airbnb.  This legislation also creates an opportunity to dedicate revenue to the production and preservation of affordable housing!
 
The bill creates a three-tiered state tax on short-term rentals and gives cities and towns the option of establishing a local excise tax on these rentals. Because short-term rentals directly impact the availability of much-needed year-round rentals, the bill directs 50% of local revenue collected through this excise tax on professionally managed hosts to infrastructure and affordable housing needs.
 
CHAPA is supporting amendments that will help provide additional tools for preserving and producing affordable homes across the Commonwealth.
 
Please call your State Representative now and ask him or her to support the following amendments to the Short-term Rental Bill, H.4314: 

• Amendment 21: Preservation of 13A Affordable Housing; and
• Amendment 20: Local Revenue for Affordable Housing Programs.

You can find your State Representative's contact information by clicking here.
 
Amendment 21: Preservation of 13A Affordable Housing
This amendment, sponsored by Representative Kevin Honan, directs state revenue collected through short-term rentals to the Massachusetts Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) for the preservation of affordable 13A developments.
 
The expansion of the Massachusetts LIHTC would provide the state with an additional $5 million for two years to preserve as many of these affordable homes as possible. There are 2,875 affordable homes in 43 developments across the Commonwealth that are part of the state’s 13A portfolio at risk of losing affordability.
 
Amendment 20: Local Revenue for Affordable Housing Programs
This amendment, sponsored by Representative Kevin Honan, clarifies the provision of the bill that directs local revenue collected through the excise tax on professionally managed hosts to infrastructure and housing programs. The amendment specifies the following:

• Requires that not less than 25% of local revenue collected through the excise tax be spent on low and moderate income housing programs.
• Creates definitions for “Low-Income Housing” and “Moderate-Income Housing.”
• Provides a definition for what types of affordable housing programs can be funded with local revenue collected through the excise tax. This definition is adapted from the Community Preservation Act, and allows for production and preservation of affordable housing, but also allows for direct assistance to families and individuals that qualify for affordable housing.
• Clarifies that local revenue may be deposited into a municipal affordable housing trust fund or other local programs that provide for low and moderate income housing programs.

Click here for fact sheet on the amendments.
 
Thank you for your continued advocacy for producing and preserving affordable homes across the Commonwealth!
 
If you have any questions, please contact Abhidnya Kurve at akurve@chapa.org or (617) 742-0820 x113.