The effort to pass key legislation that would help the Island raise funding for affordable housing is ramping up, with legislators, nonprofits, and town boards writing letters in support of new bills prior to a hearing tomorrow morning.
Legislation to support a real estate transfer fee would allow the Island to create a housing bank, which would operate similarly to the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank but would be geared toward raising money for affordable housing.
“There’s a mounting understanding of the extent of the housing crisis that we face, not only on the Islands and Cape Cod, but all over Massachusetts,” Cape and Islands Sen. Julian Cyr said in an interview with The Times. “[Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket] have been extraordinarily persistent in their advocacy, and we need to keep that up until we get it done.”
The Island — as well as Nantucket, Provincetown, and other Cape towns — have pushed for the legislation for years, but have yet to get it passed. But with several other Massachusetts cities and towns pushing for similar legislation this session, the Vineyard is joining a larger effort, and advocates are hopeful that this could be the final push.
Four separate bills in the Senate and House contain language about the transfer fee for Martha’s Vineyard specifically. Two identical bills — S.1955 and H.3193: An Act Establishing the Martha’s Vineyard Housing Bank — were heard in a hearing on Tuesday before the Joint Committee on Revenue. The bills by Cyr and Moakley would give municipalities on the Cape and Islands the option to create a housing bank through the transfer fees.
The local nonprofit Coalition to Create the M.V. Housing Bank has been working on passing this legislation for half a decade. Their co-chair, Julie Fay, said they are looking forward to another opportunity to bring housing needs to the forefront of the conversation locally, and statewide. They’ve seen a notable increase in the year-round population and home price, and a decrease in housing unit availability, and the group hopes to bridge that widening gap.
“Our group — we’ve been at it for five years, but we have no intention of giving up. This is a problem that needs to be solved on the Island,” Fay said in an interview with The Times. “People within the community continue to support. We encourage people to be as active as they were in the past with supporting this bill, and as supportive as they were in the past. It’s an Island effort.”
Town planning, select, and affordable housing boards have submitted letters of support separately — and have until the end of September to do so. Harbor Homes, the only local nonprofit that assists the unhoused, the Dukes County Commissioners, and state representatives also sent letters of support for the bills.
The Coalition is also asking residents and others to submit written testimony and attend Tuesday’s hearing.
The possible housing bank formation is an effort to fund more year-round, affordable, and workforce housing, and the legislation filed by lawmakers for Martha’s Vineyard includes a transfer fee of 2 percent that will be added to real estate transactions that exceed $1 million of the sale. The first million dollars of the sale are exempt, and the fee would be paid by the purchaser.
Fay and another member of the Coalition to Create the M.V. Housing Bank, Morgan Hodgson, said one of their goals is to repurpose existing dwellings to put a focus on sustainability and environmental solutions, as well as develop new affordable housing projects. They said the support from Sen. Cyr and Rep. Moakley has been instrumental in getting these bills on the table.
The legislative session was on Tuesday, September 9, where the bills were heard and voted on by the Revenue Committee at one of the largest hearing rooms at the State House. While the hearing is not the largest step for the bills, it is the first in a long series of hearings and meetings to do with the possible formation of the Housing Bank — a process that will culminate on July 31 of next year at the end of the legislative session.
“[These] bills are carefully crafted to protect everyday homeowners and to place the responsibility for addressing the housing crisis on higher-value real estate activity, which contributes most significantly to escalating housing costs,” Moakley said in a letter of support for the bill. “Housing is the foundation of healthy, resilient communities. Without it, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket risk losing the workforce, families, and civic vitality that sustain them. Passage of these bills will provide both islands with the means to protect their futures and ensure that residents of all incomes can continue to live and work in the communities they support.”
No more new housing development on MV.