Proposed Nantucket Real Estate Transfer Fee Hearing On Tuesday

Nantucket’s long-sought real estate transfer fee legislation is once again set for a hearing at the State House Tuesday, this time as a stand-alone provision.

For over a decade, the town of Nantucket, backed by a broad array of local affordable housing advocates and the Nantucket Association of Real Estate Brokers, has endorsed a housing bank bill that would institute a small fee on high-cost real estate transfers. Supporters contend this would provide critical guaranteed funding for affordable housing that is more flexible than most state and federal funds.

“This bill gives Nantucket something we don’t have today: a sustainable, dedicated revenue source for housing that doesn’t increase property taxes,” Nantucket Housing Director Kristie Ferrantella said. “With this revenue, we can invest in housing that keeps Nantucket livable for the people who teach in our schools, protect our safety, and keep the island running.”

But the bill has routinely come up short. A coalition of Beacon Hill interests, including the powerful Massachusetts Association of Realtors and many members of the Democratic leadership teams in the House and Senate, has opposed every effort to pass a transfer fee.

There is some local opposition as well, though it has always been a minority.

“I find it troubling that the Nantucket government is urging its citizens to lobby the state for permission to raise our taxes through a property transfer fee—essentially so they can expand local real estate development,” Nantucket Tipping Point Board of Trustees president Will Willauer wrote in a recent letter to the Current, striking a markedly different tone from the Massachusetts Association of Realtors. “Before Nantucket is locked into dedicating more money to more development, I urge you to consider the island’s capacity limits. Our infrastructure is already strained.”

The transfer fee has often been tacked onto large housing bills as an amendment by Nantucket’s state-level representatives, only to be withdrawn before a vote could be taken when the sponsors sensed that they didn’t have the votes to push the amendment across the finish line.

Co-sponsored by Representative Thomas Moakley and Senator Julian Cyr, Nantucket’s representatives in the legislature, this year’s version of the bill is a stand-alone measure. It would institute a 0.5 percent transfer fee on property sales over $2 million that would be paid by the seller, and unlike many past proposals, would only apply to Nantucket, though there is a similar bill in play for Martha’s Vineyard.

“Both islands face some of the most acute housing challenges in the Commonwealth,” Moakley said. “Median home prices have surged far beyond the reach of working families, while the supply of year-round rental housing has dwindled to critically low levels. Teachers, healthcare workers, first responders, public safety professionals, and countless other essential employees are increasingly unable to secure stable housing.”

Last year, some advocates thought things might change. The transfer fee had the support of Governor Maura Healey, and was included in her version of that year’s housing bond bill. But the transfer fee never made it to a vote in the House or the Senate.

Still, Nantucket’s housing advocates have hope that this could be the year.

“There is always reason for optimism—hope springs eternal,” Nantucket Land Trust Executive Director Tucker Holland told the Current. “The Governor said advocacy is what is going to get it done.”

Holland and Ferrentella both urged Nantucketers to send testimony in support of the bill to the legislature.