Housing advocates cheer $5.4B stimulus bill, though transfer tax falls by wayside
Published: 07-02-2024 4:48 PM
Modified: 07-03-2024 8:53 AM
Local policymakers and affordable housing advocates and developers are welcoming a bill that cleared the state Senate unanimously late last week authorizing $5.4 billion in state borrowing to spur housing production amid a mounting housing supply crisis, though they were disappointed some amendments beneficial to western Massachusetts did not survive in the final version of the bill.
“The whole thing is pretty exciting because it’s the most amount of money the state has ever put toward affordable housing,” said Alexis Breiteneicher, executive director of Valley Community Development. “It doesn’t feel just Boston-focused … The need is just as great out here even if we don’t have as many people.”
But Breiteneicher said it was a “bummer” that amendments advocated for by the Western Massachusetts Housing Coalition, a group of local developers and nonprofits, didn’t make the cut.
In particular, Breiteneicher and other local parties pointed out that the Senate bill does not include language to authorize local-option real estate transfer taxes, which more than a dozen communities are seeking to tax high-dollar property sales within their borders and generate money for affordable housing.
