To the Editor:
If you’re concerned about finding housing that is affordable in Tisbury, we urge you to make your voice heard and vote count at the Tisbury Town Meeting, April 28, 7 pm, Tisbury School.
Here are the bare facts: Tisbury has 4,900-plus residents, 1,900 households, 3,121 housing units of which 53 percent (1,668) are occupied by residents (that’s 232 fewer than the number of households), and 47 percent (1,458) are unoccupied (used seasonally, short-term, or empty). Between 400 and 700-plus of nonresident occupied units are used for short-term rentals.
Dukes County Regional Housing Authority has a certified-eligible waiting list of 357 tenants; 122
(nearly a third) of those tenants are from Tisbury. DCRHA currently rents nine units in Tisbury, of a total 102 Island-wide.
The median sale price of a home in Tisbury in 2024 was $1,500,000. Annual rental-rate data
ranges from $3,600-plus to $15,000-plus per month (skewed by short-term rates).
The annual Town Meeting has warrant articles that will:
1. Ask the town to adopt a Massachusetts law that allows towns to provide a property tax
Exemption or reduction (like the residential exemption) for property owners who rent their
properties annually to tenants who meet criteria for affordable housing (STM No. 7).
2. Ask the town to change the zoning bylaw approved at the Dec. 17, 2024, Special
Town Meeting by removing the limit on the number of nights a property can be rented on a
short-term basis. It is now 75 nights per year (STM No. 24).
3. Has a variety of articles that fund the Tisbury Housing Trust, and Dukes County Regional
Housing Authority, at the same levels approved in previous town meetings.
The Tisbury affordable housing committee (TAHC) proposed to expand affordable housing
opportunities by making it attractive to use existing nonresident housing for annual rentals.
Using existing but underused housing stock is less expensive and more immediate than building
new units on difficult-to-find lots. Therefore, the TAHC urges voters to:
1. Support Special Town Meeting article 7 to adopt Massachusetts General Law allowing property-tax exemptions for properties rented on an affordable basis. A tax break to add 20 year-round rentals would only mean a reduction of about $60,000 in total tax revenue.
2. Reject Special Town Meeting Article 24, which allows unlimited use of short-term rental
properties by removing the 75-night limit approved at STM in December 2024. This provision encourages further erosion of Tisbury housing to STR, and benefits mainly the nonresident owners (two-thirds of total) of STRs in the town.
3. Support Special and annual Town Meeting articles that fund DCRHA rentals and
Tisbury Housing Trust, to expand affordable housing opportunities for residents.
Victor Capoccia, chair
Tisbury affordable housing committee