Don Howell's Blog

These are Taxing Times

On Tuesday, the Massachusetts Legislature will be holding a hearing to consider expanding the Room's Tax to cover individual homeowners who rent out their own houses. I have sent the followng to the Committee and encourage others to weigh in:

Dear Sirs,

There is a move in the Legislature to expand the Local Option Room's Tax to include houses, cottages and condos in the definition of entities subject to this tax. In preparation for the consideration, a number of Cape Cod Towns had placed an article on the Town Meeting Warrant (or, as was the case in Harwich, held a Special Town Meeting, in part, to take this up).

You should be aware that Harwich, the most populous Town in the 4th Barnstable District, voted overwhelmingly in the February Special Town Meeting to reject this expansion. Indeed, attendance at the meeting was very high (not just for the time of year it was held), debate was vigorous and the vote was emphatic and overwhelming. As a Town, we have spoken and do not want this tax change adopted. Of particular concern, no one knows how many homes this will affect. Nor can anyone project the income derived from the change. As such, any expansion would surely necessitate registering the homes affected and probably require each Town to have an enforcement officer of some sort.

Also, the change would affect individual homeowners, some of whom vacate their homes during the summer months just to cover their mortgages. These are clearly not business people who are engaged in a lodging enterprise. They are single home owners who would be responsible for filing monthly DOR reports and sending in monthly payments. This change does not close a loophole but is a naked attempt to tax an entire class of (little) people who were specifically exempted from the tax when it was originally adopted by the Commonwealth. And given the current economic environment, I couldn't think of a worse time to do this. The Cape is a community which relies heavily on tourism.

Even if you, as a Legislator, do not agree with any of the foregoing arguments, the fact is that the voters of Harwich already have. I am quite sure you would have relied upon the passage of the article as a sign of support requesting the bill's passage as a local option. Our vote against it (in overwhelming numbers) should likewise be honored.

Thank you in advance for your consideration.

Donald F Howell
Fmr Harwich Selectman