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© 2021 The Somerville Times. All rights reserved.
By Stephanie Hirsch
Alderman at Large
(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries and letters to the Editor of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)
Last Wednesday night, hundreds of people packed the Board of Aldermen chambers. More than 120 spoke, and many more wanted to speak but couldn’t stay as the hearing stretched on past 10:00 p.m. About half argued for and half against a new tax on the sale of property to fund affordable housing.
As residents spoke, their stories brought to life the challenges I shared in my last column. Here is a summary:
- Many seniors own properties and rent units at below-market rates. Their tenants include vulnerable seniors and second- or third-generation Somerville families with kids in the schools. Though many seniors own, most have lower earning potential. Many have spent their lives working blue-collar jobs. Households were bigger in the ’60s and ’70s, and long-time residents spoke about trying to help their three or four adult children buy homes, including in Somerville.
- In contrast, though many younger renters are much more likely to have college degrees, they spoke of debt and the impossibility of finding a way to stay for the long term. Young families who have been able to buy talked about the weight of big mortgages and childcare bills.
- A growing population of residents of all ages make a lot of money. They’re in good shape. And, on the flip side, a large share of residents – especially families with kids and seniors who rent – have neither assets nor income, and are on the brink of displacement. Many spoke on behalf of those vulnerable residents.
Somerville Times readers have probably read about the proposed “Transfer Fee” in this paper. The idea is that a tax would be collected when a property changes hands. Funding (of about $5 to $8 million per year) would then be used to create affordable ownership and rental opportunities. Here are the steps: 1. The BOA writes a petition to the State to ask permission to create the tax (with some details, like exemptions); 2. The State approves (or denies) the petition; and 3. We write an ordinance with more details to create the tax after a community process. (Note that we can’t ADD to the tax in the ordinance — only expand exemptions or lower the tax.) We are working on the first step.
Everyone agrees that we need these funds, and the hardships reflected in the stories and data show the need. Because of the unique challenges our residents face, most residents (perhaps as many as 80%) will not be able to stay in Somerville in coming years. There are no easy solutions – only hard ones. The transfer fee is a hard one, but also one of the few that can make a big difference. We are divided on the plans now. Can we find a workable solution to move forward?
To try to answer that question, I sifted through the hundreds of messages to find the most common suggestions:
- “Flippers” should pay the tax rather than residents: As one resident said, “The investors buy and sell for profit, disregarding the continuity of a neighborhood. Those of us who bought, raised our families, paid taxes, should not be the ones to pay ‘transfer’ fees when we decide to sell.”
- Don’t tax people who move WITHIN Somerville. If someone owns and wants to expand or shrink their home in different life stages, they will, as one resident wrote, be “taxed TWICE for investing in this city – on their first home and the next home they are looking to grow into.”
- Protect owner-occupied landlords: Many landlords charge below market rent – to the tune of tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years. As one person said; “I fear you’ll ignore all those good citizens who not only invested, but have even kept rents low. My mother is one of them, who in the past 45 years, rented two apartments for less than half of the market rates, because as she says ‘people have to live’.”
- Protect and expand the middle class. There is a group that makes too much to qualify for affordable housing programs, but still can’t easily buy and are sensitive to small changes in home prices. As one person said: “For many families, this could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and pushes them out of our wonderful city.”
- Make sure there is time for community discussion: Many said we need more information and/or chance to vote: As one person said, “It seems it was done in quiet without community input and vote.”
- Overcome division: A deep divide, along lines of age, length of residence in Somerville, and background was evident at last week’s meeting. As one resident said, “The Board is contributing to pitting residents against each other, mainly newly arrived young against older long-time residents. This is not a community solution.”
I agree with ALL of these points, and I believe we can address them all. I propose the following as the BOA moves forward with consideration of the Transfer Fee:
- Exempt owners: Some of my colleagues and I have proposed an amendment that would exempt all owner-occupant sellers and owner-occupant buyers from the fee, while requiring investors to pay. Because so many of our buyers and sellers are investors, the tax can still generate a large amount of revenue without charging our owner occupants. Only about 36% of residences are owned as homes, while 64% of homes are held as investments (see graph). More than half of us live in homes that have an absentee or corporate landlord. We have one of the lowest levels of ownership in the state (ranking 237 of 246 communities).
- Use the funding to help seniors, middle class, labor, and others: My colleagues and I have been talking about how we could use the funding to target the groups that are impacted by the fee. We can help seniors continue to live at their home or to restructure their properties to share ownership with their children. We can create a housing assistance fund for City and School District employees, and can help people who can’t afford to buy but make too much for current affordability levels. At the same time, we can help those people who are most vulnerable.
- Consider sending it to a vote: Many people asked for a vote and voice – We can do that by adding into our petition to the State a requirement that we will only pass the ordinance after a local referendum on the details of the tax and use of funding.
As we struggle with this particular proposal – the first of what will be many hard discussions – above all else, we need to find ways to ensure it puts into action our community values. I believe that we need to use this discussion to build community and connection, rather than increase the divide. The test of how well we have succeeded is how much it helps the residents who have doubts. I look forward to having those discussions with all of you in days, months, and years ahead so we can make our community stronger. You can view more information, including a summary of comments and proposals here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YNvdwISpC5Sn61Z2d2Kxid85HW_1jqmV/view Also, learn more about the transfer fee discussion here: www.somervillema.gov/transferfee
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Many residents are against this for many reasons. The biggest one is that this city cannot be trusted to use the funds properly for what they are intended for. Are we going to have many very highly paid people running this? Are we going to misuse the program like we have for affordable housing in this city? I have been here in this city for 70 years now and my house is my retirement. It is a 2 family and I receive no income from the apartment. Reality is that I will have to look elsewhere to buy a house so I can survive. Being a senior in this city is a handicap. I need to move to a senior friendly city. I have no expectations of this city supporting me so I can stay here. Their rules and regulations make it very difficult and expensive. People just have to move to where they can afford it. I would like a nice house in Dover. I don’t expect the town of Dover is going to make my dream possible.
So many thoughts. If you sell a 2 family in Somerville you probably can afford a nice house in Dover with the money. Even if there is a 1% transfer fee. But what I want to know is why you think that the city misuses affordable housing money. There is no proof of that anywhere. The City has done so much with the affordable housing money that they have. There may be reasons to be against this but you have not yet given one good one.
What proof is there that the Curtatone Cronies have used affordable housing money right? I read in another article that the program hasn’t had a legally required audit in 10 YEARS! And now they say they’re out of money?? Something stinks to high heaven. Where did all this money go? How many people got helped? We need answers before we start throwing good money after bad.
There are many reasons that this should NOT passed including, but not limited to:
1. This is a waste of time – it has no chance of passing at the state level. The resistance you see now within the city will be amplified when it goes to the state.
2. Somerville is 4 sq. miles – and we already do more than any other city for Affordable Housing (AH) and as others have noted there is no accounting/audit trail of how they money already collected has been spent. No one knows how the money is being spent or if it’s been spent efficiently. Until these non-profits (SCC/SHC/the other syndicates…) who are lining up to get their hands on this money can provide an independent accounting of how the money already collected has been spent they should not get one more penny.
3. No one has a clue as to how this money would be spent. People are throwing ideas out left/right, but there is no real plan.
4. Besides Nantucket/Martha’s Vineyard – no other city in the Commonwealth has this and Cambridge just voted it down along with the tenant right of first refusal – which is the most idiotic socialist idea I have ever heard. These people want to give tenants the right to have a say in how the property YOU own gets handled. GTHO with that nonsense.
5. We already pay a “transfer tax” at the state level via the deed tax. The city gets a cut of that $ now via local aid, so this tax would be on TOP of that one.
6. Exemptions – NO. Because if they try and slime this through with some exemptions today – we all know those exemptions will disappear in a year or two. Kill this thing now.
7. This money cannot be guaranteed to go to Somerville residents. They may say today that 60 or 70% is earmarked for Somerville residents, but the grifters will figure out a way to game the system and we’ll end up with some real prizes living off of us.
Bottom line: If folks ABSOLUTELY cannot afford to live in an area then you move to an area you can afford. Simple. No one has a God given right to live wherever they want using other people’s monies. It’s wrong on so many levels.
The only good that came out of all this is that this new board of alderman have exposed themselves for the far left, incompetent, elitists we knew they were. They will be up for re-election soon enough and they won’t be able to ride the Bernie Bro coattails this time, so … let’s get some real people in there and get these Our Revolution nuts out of there.
Bunny you nailed it.
I’d like to add that SCC would be the real winner in this cash grab! AH in Somerville is a one-trick pony, led by SCC and their advocates. It’s appalling and illegal that the AHTF has not been independently audited since 2008, it’s written into the ordinance that it must be independently audited each and every year with the findings posted on the City website. Furthermore, the AHTF board can’t even produce consistent meeting minutes from their board meetings, as there is a several year gap between what can and cannot be produced. And from what I hear, folks might just be a little spooked (running scared) that this has been brought to light. Some of the Alderman and friends of the “fund” might decide to change their tune and distance themselves from this circus once the State Attorney General’s Office comes knocking.
See here is the real hypocrisy in all of this madness. The AH zealots had a nice gravy train rolling with zero oversight, but they became too greedy and felt they had the political power following last year’s municipal election to make another cash grab… Boy did they miscalculate this move. Not only are they not going to get their HRP (cash grab), they’re going to lose a lot more once the AG’s office starts peeling the onion back.
In the words of the late great Dennis Green, “they are who we thought they were!”
Stephanie, not everyone agrees we need these funds as we’re still trying to better understand how the last “funds” we gave for AH were spent over the year! No one has been accountable and to be candid we do enough already for AH. Enough is enough. Live within your means or move.
And if for some strange reason I would have ever been in favor of this TAX then I was thoroughly disabused of that notion when I got to about the 1:42:00 part of the video of the meeting. http://somervillecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/SplitView.aspx?Mode=Video&MeetingID=2671&MinutesID=2120&FileFormat=pdf&Format=Minutes&MediaFileFormat=mpeg4
YIKES! What was this guy thinking with that very disturbing, condescending and insulting poem? I didn’t know whether to laugh or throw my laptop through the wall. If that is the attitude of the people in favor of this TAX then someone ought to give them a real lesson in the “revolution” and break out the tar and feathers.
The large projects in the city who are supposed to supply a percentage of affordable housing like FRIT can get out of it by reducing the percentage. So why does it boil down to me? And no, I can’t buy a house in Dover. I do have a mortgage as I have made improvements on the house. And the 2 of us making less than $50000 a year while taking no rent in. Yes I want every dime coming to me and it probably is not enough to take care of my simple needs. And I have no reason to think this administration will do the right thing.
Former Alderman Jack Connolly correctly pointed out “Nowhere in the petition is there anything about how this is going to work, who is going to administer it, who is going to enforce this”. “This should be discussed first and not later, let’s get into the details”. What bothered Former Alderman Jack Connolly most was that this ‘Transfer Fee’ issue was being “EXPEDITED”. In Somerville “EXPEDITED” is ‘SIF’ [Sky Is Falling] operative ploy used by the mayor where he goes to the mike in BOA chambers stating his (developers) issues must be passed right there on the spot, like the bond bail out for Assembly Row Developers,
that is now a $26 million+ debt put on the taxpayers/renters. Time for Somerville residents demand the BOA table his issue and place it in the back of the file drawer. Our BOA still works part time yet gains full time pay.
Down the line the feds will come down on Somerville, investigate all the questionable and indictable issues practiced on Central Hill, past and present, by former and present elected/appointed personnel.
The long time residents need to educate the newbies and everyone needs to register and vote every election in this city.
Total CASH GRAB! The very first “news item” on the Somerville Community Corp’s website says “Somerville Needs a Real Estate Transfer Fee”. It goes on to say that one of their committees “helped rally residents to show their support and to testify” on the transfer fee. And if you google the name of the director of this Community Corporation, it turns out he also just happens to be the CLERK of Somerville’s Affordable Housing Trust. WTF? How much money do you think his organization is getting? We should bring back Gene Brune to clean this mess up. Someone needs to open up the accounting books and see who’s been taking a cut. When in doubt, FOLLOW THE MONEY!
This reminds me of when Mayor Bretta was around. The FBI got him eventually.
Just trying to figure this out…. lets assume that the city collects 10k per house sold. How much will that really bring down a persons mortgage if you were going to give it to a house buyer? let’s guess that SCC gives 100k to a buyer to bring down the mortgage by 100 dollars a month… will that really make a difference to the person would couldn’t afford it but now does by the skin of that persons teeth? now this person falls into bankruptcy and the bank takes over… what happens to the money that you gave that person to try and afford the house? How will the city recoup the money if its lost in the real estate transaction ? It is really sad that the people ( formerly know as aldermen and women ) can’t figure out that to live in Somerville is more that just purchasing a house. Will the money go to families that need it? Will Somerville own the houses and set up a rent to own so if the family can’t afford it , the city will not loose out? Now the city is going to be a landlord…. Makes the old school people want to NOT sell and collect the rents, Mortgage the property and purchase somewhere else.
CPA tax, Linkage fees, increasing taxes, assessed fee on the water bill, the most expensive high school in the state $256M, and $50M for the GLX…How much is enough? What’s even more disgusting? Members of the SCC spoke out at the transfer fee/tax in favor of this tax. They never identified themselves as employees. Helen Corrigan ex Alderman (she’s an Administrative Assistant for the SCC and was on the board from 1996-2008). Dan LeBlanc CEO of the SCC identified himself as a resident. Why hasn’t the AHTF (Affordable Housing Trust Fund), been independently audited since 2008? We want oversight and transparency, and demand an independent audit!
Highlander, I doubt it.
The aldermen are doing an incredible job, approaching this legislation with an eye to keeping long-time residents in place, protecting owners, and preventing displacement. That is admirable. I urge people to look past the cynicism on this thread, and I encourage those who think they’ll hate it to read the legislation and proposed amendments before passing judgment. The first version was good, and included protections (i.e exemptions) for seniors, long-term residents, and in-family transactions.
The proposed amendments make it even better. If you hate developers, condo-flippers, and outside investors, this is the tax for you. I’m really pleased with the changes that have been suggested, and I think it makes for a much stronger piece of legislation.
As for the aldermen, they are exactly who I thought they were, and I’m very grateful to ALL of them for taking the time to do this right.
Here here Bunny. I stand by everything you said.
@ John_Wilkie – “Somebody ought to give them a real lesson the the ‘revolution’ and break out the tar and feathers.”
You planning on leading the charge, boyo?
Time for a little violence, eh?
Duly noted.
Katie, not all people involved with non-profit housing are saints like you assume. Have you ever heard of Michael McLaughlin, former housing director in Chelsea who was indicted, found guilty and sentenced to jail by the state AG?
I would not be shocked if something similar is not on the horizon for some housing executives in Somerville. The fact there has been zero accountability for the Housing Trust Fund for the last 10 years, is and should be a major red flag for everyone. How you turn a blind eye to this egregious behavior is beyond me? You must be a trust fund ideologue like the rest of Our Revolution.. I would almost guarantee you will not still be living in Somerville in 5 years, as you’ll disrupt our community until you’re bored with Somerville and move along with your trust fund for greener pastures (Brooklyn, DC, SF) like former SCC community disruptor Karen N.
It must be tough living with the guilt of being raised with a silver spoon. Somerville has seen your type many times over the years, you’re nothing special.
I call on Our Revolution to post their tax returns and contributors. They are not legally required to do so, but everyone should know where the money is coming from that support their activities and how they spend the money.
What’s next, a “Title Fee” for bicycle owners to help those who can’t afford new bicycles?
It’s strange to agree so heartily with Jack Connolly, but I do. The critical problem of the entire transfer fee debate is how it’s focus is on “enforcement” rather than “results.”
The fee came out of talk about how to “harness gentrification.” We knew even then we couldn’t stop it, but could at least make it help more current Somerville residents. At the heart of that talk – from the 1998 Affordable Housing Task Force – was how to make ownership more possible for more people to protect them from displacement. We then included both residential and commercial ownership, since the vacant storefronts on Union and other squares are bad for jobs as well as for residents.
And, until this year, that solution was NEVER exclusively into the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. That only emerged as Union United decided to enrich SCC with more ownership at the expense of our economic diversity.
By around 2010 there was some talk about some kind of investment trust to guarantee mortgages and make private and public funding available to guarantee jobs. We got excited about this since such guarantees could produce ten times that a direct investment would produce. That model blended the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (in Roxbury) with models from Vienna and elsewhere in Europe and California. The idea was a fund, a trust, to insure and to guarantee low cost loans, and to track how such loans would change recruitment, retention, and, over time, salary needs of key Somerville demographics – like teachers, police, other city workers and long time residents and employers.
In other words, we began with where we want to go, and went back to how to get there. Instead, this current Board of Aldermen ignores the goals and is obsessed with the details of beginning a process that has already been delayed for two decades.
Unless they focus on outcomes, they should kill the entire project. As someone who’s been on committees on this subject back to 1987, I have never seen as pointless a discussion as I saw at the Aldermen’s meetings last week and this. Wake up. Say what you want to DO WITH THE MONEY rather than debate stupid and meaningless issues like “who pays.” It’s a sales tax. Unless you can find me an auto dealer who pays the sales tax, you’ll never convince me that “sellers pay.” The guys with mortgages are the guys with the money!
I’m agreed with Katie, thank you all the alderman who listened to us who were advocating for affordable housing this past week.
Also to all the people like Beacon St posting frustrated comments where they just want to generalize residents of Somerville, please keep feeding yourself that narrative that everyone who doesn’t agree with you is a trust fund kid outsider if it helps you feel better.
Newsflash: The bitter long time Somerville resident who throws a tantrum when they don’t get what they want is nothing special either, there was a bunch of them in attendance at Board of Aldermen chambers last week.
Go onto the internet and you’ll see homes for sale right next door in Everett, Malden, Stoneham, and Saugus for $400,000 and less. Lynn has a lot of places too. If you can’t afford a home, there are condos for even less. Save your money for a downpayment and get that starter home you’ve wanted. It’s importamt to be realistic about what you can afford, but if you work hard and make sacrifices, I promise you’ll make your way. Don’t get discouraged! We all had to start somewhere.
The saddest part of all this is that this new BOA’s first initiative was so divisive to the community. Instead of coming in, learning the ropes and working with the residents they’re supposed to represent they charge in with this. As we see from the videos of their sessions they barely know what they’re doing, voting on and how to even vote. A complete and utter embarrassment the lot of them.
Ultimately, we all know these fools want rent control back and since that was ruled unconstitutional they’re bending over trying to figure out other ways to steal property owner rights. Niedergang’s smirking warning about “We’ve got plans for anyone planning condo conversions coming up next…” is very ominous for what further plans they have. We need to get these fools out of office and quick.
Also, why isn’t Mayor Joe growing a set and calling them out for this nonsense? He must know they’re going to throw him out and put their own socialist nutbag into the mayor’s office next election. His days are done, so if he had any integrity and guts he’d stand up, storm into the BOA chambers tell them to back off and grow up. Instead he continues to turtle. If he was smart he’d stand up to these leftist criminals and have a future. Bending over for them has led to this mess and his demise politically.
Thank you all for reading! In response to some of the questions, here are some of my thoughts… I know that the public hearing was split along divides of background and age, but I will measure success of this program based on how much it helps everyone, with a special focus on the needs of long-time residents. A local source of funding helps us design programs in more flexible ways so that they can help seniors, working-class residents, city workers, and others.
During the campaign, I ended up going to at least 5,000 homes where long-time homeowners lived, and here are the needs I heard:
**Many seniors talked about the loss of neighborhood ties and about how few kids live on their block now. (Somerville has among the smallest populations of kids in the state… and that number continues to shrink.) Many people feel frustration with developers who purchase triple-deckers. We already have one of the lowest percents of owner-occupied properties in the state. This tax is designed to only impact investors so that we can give owner-occupant buyers a leg up and make neighborhoods a bit more stable.
**Lots of seniors need housing. About 4,000 homes (including many multi-families) are owned by seniors, and many of those property owners rent units to senior tenants at below-market rates. We all know stories of people who have been tenants for 15-20 years and then have to move when their landlord passes away or needs to sell. We can help seniors – both owners and tenants – stay in their homes or neighborhoods.
**Long-time residents often have three or more children, and when the older generation needs to sell, they would like to pass on the property so that one or more of their kids can continue to live there, but one sibling can’t afford to buy the whole property. We can help families with technical assistance or mortgage assistance so they can restructure ownership of their multi-families to help the next generation stay.
**Our teachers and municipal employees can’t afford to live here, which is crazy, because they are the ones making sure our city works. We can invest in programs to help city workers secure housing.
**Owners need relief from taxes and bills, but may not qualify for our tax exemption programs. We can create programs that help people who make too much to qualify for some programs, but earn too little to stay on top of monthly bills.
**Housing is a piece of the puzzle for Opioid addition recovery. We may be able to use funding to support other housing programs we need, like a licensed recovery homes for people working to recover from addiction.
We do need to do more work to spell out where the funding will go and how we can make sure it helps all people who are in need, but the need across all these areas is really pressing. The current version does not charge anyone who is an owner-occupied seller or buyer, so those most invested in Somerville – I think pretty much everyone who spoke at the hearing or commented here — will not pay. At the same time, it will help many people of all backgrounds. Also, I hope it will help protect some of the characteristics of Somerville that, across all backgrounds, people say they value. Please get in touch with me to share your thoughts about how we can make sure this works for you and for all of our residents! I’m happy to meet or talk by phone – stephanie@stephaniehirsch.org, 617-512-4847
One point of unity that came up multiple tonnes in the meeting was that the large scale developers have wiggled out of passing their fair share – loud cheers from both sides when this was brought up.
Hello Katie, Andrew and other first time home buyers,
Here are some listings you might want to look at. Like I was saying, there are many, many more online. My son lives with his wife and their 2 kids in Everett, and they really like it. It’s not that far away from Somerville.
2 beds, 2 bath home in Lynn, $409,000. Beautiful views
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1-Marsh-View-Rd-LYNN-MA-01905/56081833_zpid/
3 beds and 2 baths in Saugus for $399,000
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/53-Seagirt-Ave-SAUGUS-MA-01906/56126944_zpid/
2 beds, 1 bath condo in Everett for $280,000.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/21-Staples-Ave-APT-31-EVERETT-MA-02149/56464126_zpid/
2 bed and 1 bath condo. You can walk to Malden Center T station in a couple minutes. $399,000. It’s a great area.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/27-Alpine-St-APT-2-MALDEN-MA-02148/56518337_zpid/
Fact check, Mr. Wilkie – Rent control was not ruled unconstitutional, it was abolished by statewide referendum. Like the ban on beaver trapping. The deciding votes were cast mostly in Western Mass and the bedroom exurb communities along 495. Where many voters didn’t even know what rent control was.
The only 3 towns in the entire state that actually had rent control – Boston, Brookline, and Cambridge – and who were the only citizens who actually had firsthand experience with the effects that rent control had on their communities, all voted overwhelmingly to keep it.
Thanks Stephanie, I have searched the city’s website and I could not find a report about the affordable housing crisis in Somerville. Can you point me to the report? I looking for the total number of rental units in the city,how many are affordable, who owns them, Somerville Community Corp, Somerville Housing etc. How many of the 100 homes program have been purchased and any other facts
Christopher, so John was right that the ultimate goal of the progressives in this city would be to bring back rent control, right? You’d be in favor, right? Newflash: of course any city where the majority of people rent would vote for Rent Control. DUH. Some people are greedy and lazy and want to live off other’s hard work any chance they get. This tax – like rent control – does just that.
For those that don’t understand what rent control is:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/rent-control-laws-foolish-and-unconstitutional/2012/02/14/gIQAcZvbGR_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.cc29f60463d0
and beaver trapping is banned?!?!?
Please just quit now, you’ve divided the community and there is no bringing this thing back. Not only are you continuing to divide the community, there is zero chance this even makes it out of committee once it lands at the State House. So, please ask yourself… Is it really worth continuing to pit your own people against each other for policy that does not stand a chance once on Beacon Hill? The number of comments on these transfer tax articles is all you need to read in order to gauge the temperature of your community. Start listening and quit trying to force this tax on us. You’re just committing political suicide by trying to force the policy of the minority onto the majority. The homeowners have spoken and they do not want this transfer tax, regardless of the exemptions put forward. Might I remind you, as recently as two weeks ago most of the BOA was pushing this tax with the least amount of exemptions. The new BOA, led by Mark N misplayed their hand and have now lost all credibility within the community for the way they tried to slip this tax through without a well-publicized public hearing, even going as far as to vote against notifying homeowners of their intention (is this real life?). The hypocrisy and arrogance of this board is astounding, considering most if not all ran on “transparency and openness”. Yet when given the chance to do so, you all failed to abide by your own rhetoric. Only after homeowners organized and demanded the BOA slow things down did you all do an about face.
Stephanie, are you not alarmed that the AHTF cannot show where their money has been spent for the last 10 years Because you should be, and if you’re not, shame on you. Zero financial record keeping, with almost all the funds going directly to the one trick pony known as SCC and with the transfer tax who would be the biggest beneficiary… Yep, you guessed it – SCC. As a new member of the BOA you should be demanding a comprehensive audit by an outside firm that shows where every dollar has gone over the last 10 years. The ordinance even says there must be an outside audit completed ever year by an outside, independent firm. If there was any other entity or fund within the city with this lack of oversight and this much money at stake, you all (the BOA) would be jumping up and down screaming for accountability… But because this policy is being pushed forward by the favorable friends and agenda of the current board, no accountability is needed. Fred Berman has even made public statements saying the AFHT is broke. Oh really, Fred? Then tell us where all the money went and how you plan to mismanage your new stream of funding. This is total BS and someone better standup to take some ownership.
This City’s priorities are in the wrong order. We should be investing more into our education system before allocating more revenue streams directly to AH (especially since there is zero oversight and accountability with where and how the money is spent within the AHTF).. While we’ve made significant strides in improving and prioritizing education over the last 10 years, we still have a long way to go before we can truly start patting ourselves on the back. Somerville as a whole is still very behind in funding special education and the needs of those students, along with many other areas within our schools. Also, where is the outcry from this Board on green space? Somerville has the least amount of open and green space in the commonwealth, but no one seems to bring that up. All the while we have Conway park shut down due to contamination. The BOA should allocate emergency funds to remedy the contamination and get Conway park back open for the children of this community.
Shame on this BOA for doing what you’re doing to our community! Dividing does not equal progress.
Highlander… You’re probably right, the bulk of property owners don’t want it to go through, but, most people in this city, most voters, are not property owners. If the transfer tax fails, which i doubt, they will find another way to fund this.
Why not a 1 or 2% tax on rent payments too? That would raise a lot of money since there are more renters than homeowners.
If affordable housing is important, then EVERYONE should pay and it should be put to a vote. It’s easy to make a noise that someone else should pay for something. Put your money where your mouth is.
Ironically, unlike the Revolution Somerville people who stacked the town hall meetings, I was unable to attend because I was working into the evening at my law firm, spending time away from my family so I can afford the mortgage.
You cannot gauge the popularity of a policy from a town hall meeting. The times are set assuming that people work 9-5 and can stay for hours. Of course, this is often not the case. Some people work nights and some people work late and/or have to look after young kids. Of course the meeting is going to be stacked with activist young progressive renters – most of whom don’t have kids.
Mike – you’re exactly right regarding the stacking of town hall meetings by advocates and renters (that is SCC’s favorite play from their playbook). Thus, giving the perception everyone is behind a policy. That’s exactly what will take place on April 30th when Alderman Ben Ewen-Campen holds his public hearing asking for public input on whether there is an “affordable housing crisis.” Of course all the advocates, SCC staff, SCC board members, etc. will show up in droves to testify about how dire the living situation is in Somerville. All the while they (SCC) have the most to gain from these instances. The BOA will then declare an emergency because they will be able to say look at all of this testimony. We’ve all seen this dog and pony show before. I guarantee that it will play out just as I described.
The real emergency in Somerville is the lack of green space and playing fields for the children. The BOA should be holding an emergency meeting to allocate funds in order to remediate the contamination issue at Conway Park and get it back open for public use.
SCC has been ginning-up housing affordability issues for years. It’s in their interest to perpetuate a “crisis”, as it keeps them employed and well-paid. SCC does a disservice to young people telling them they deserve to live in Somerville rather than encouraging them to buy in towns where they can afford to buy and start building equity and creating community. I’ve been attending town hall meeting for a couple decades and they’re a joke because SCC stacks them with bodies, some of them barely old enough to work, let alone own property.
This is a real housing crisis! Weston Massachusetts, the wealthiest zip code in the state, has just 3.77% of subsidized/affordable housing. The state requires that every city/town set aside 10 percent of the total housing stock as affordable (for incomes meeting 80 percent of the area mean income range as determined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development).
Quiz: Guess what percent of Somerville is set aside for subsidized housing?! Hint: The answer is in double figures (not even including housing vouchers like Section 8).
Dear Somerville Alder people, Weston is only adding 20 affordable units a year! At that rate, it will be at least 12 years before they meet state mandated requirements. I have longed to live in the suburbs of Weston. Would you please, please work with their town representatives and build more housing there ASAP. I don’t know if I would win their housing lottery, but I sure would like to try! I can’t take going to endless Somerville meetings anymore to debate ways in which you can tax and spend more. My quality of life has dropped and I have sleepless nights wondering what else you’ll do to disrupt markets and badly needed economic development.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this urgent matter. I am sure you know of a community developer who will gladly help Weston achieve at least 10% subsidized housing. Please report back on April 30 of your progress.
https://www.weston.org/1009/Affordable-Housing-Needs-and-Strategy
The city needs to build more housing to fix affordability. This tax is counter productive and ineffective.
Read the report paid for by the city. The tax would only raise $5m before any exemption. Only 12% of sales are developer flippers.
Read any reports on housing prices. It is a lack of supply. Listen to any economist, we need to build more houses. Look at any studies on transfer taxes, this will do the opposite.
Most telling. Look at Barnstable, a Cape town full of vacation homes and affluent residents. They passed the transfer tax of 1% to STOP development and buy land for nature conservation. They are using the tax to keep new people out and stop new construction, and Somerville thinks this will help affordability?
The city needs to look at causes of affordability and address those issues. Don’t focus on penalizing people
Below is what Niedergang is telling people is the ‘new plan’ for the transfer ‘fee’ (tax). Note that the current BOA voted for this taking of our property rights UNANIMOUSLY. These people don’t get it and never will. They didn’t listen to any of those who spoke or e-mailed their concerns. If you are an owner-occupant you don’t pay. #1, being an owner-occupant doesn’t change your property rights or obligations. #2, I’ve seen many developers in recent years temporarily move into homes they are renovating, thereby making them ‘owner-occupants’. #3, You can’t say that only the buyer will pay because the buyer will subtract the amount of this tax from their bottom line. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg with the problems in this proposal.
“All owner-occupants, both sellers and buyers, will be exempt from the fee under a new plan developed by Alderman-at-Large Stephanie Hirsch, and supported by the Board of Aldermen (BOA) in a unanimous vote on April 11th.
Alderman Hirsch found a way to do exactly what all of us want — including many who testified or emailed in opposition to the transfer tax: make developers, investors and absentee landlords pay, and don’t make people who live in Somerville pay.
Her plan sets a 1% fee on both seller and buyer, but anyone who is or will be an owner-occupant doesn’t pay anything. So, for example, if someone who has lived in Somerville for 5, 10 or 30 years sells their home, they don’t pay. And if a young family who intends to live in Somerville (they will apply for and get the residential tax exemption) buys it, they won’t pay. If an owner-occupant sells to a developer or investor, the seller doesn’t pay, but the developer or investor pays the 1%. If that developer than redevelops the property and sells it to an investor who rents it out, the fee is a total of 2% — both the seller and buyer pay. Alderman Hirsch believes this plan would still raise between $6-9 million a year for affordable housing. If you want to learn more about her thinking, read her article, “One Affordability Proposal: Can we find a way to unite, not divide, our community?” at http://www.thesomervilletimes.com/archives/83035
We’ve still got a LOT of work to do to flesh out this plan, determine how the funds raised would be managed and by which City board, and provide more information to the public about the kinds of affordable housing programs for low-income, working, and middle-income families the funds will support. As Chair of the Legislative Matters Committee, I’ve scheduled a half-a-dozen more meetings over the next month, the first one on April 25th at 7 PM, and there will be another Public Hearing in May. We’ll announce the date once we are far enough along on a draft based on the new plan so that there is something solid to comment on. My hope is that the BOA will vote on the transfer fee Home Rule Petition sometime in May.
Getting a transfer fee in place is a three-step process. If the BOA does vote to send the Home Rule Petition to the State Legislature (step 1), we’ll all need to work hard to try to get it through the Legislature (step 2). It won’t be easy, because politicians don’t like fees, even in Massachusetts. But our four state legislators — Pat Jehlen, Denise Provost, Christine Barber, and Mike Connolly — are strong supporters and will help as much as they can. If the Legislature approves it, it comes back to the Board of Aldermen to write an ordinance to officially enact the transfer fee (step 3).
I think we’ve got an approach now that, hopefully, will win over many of the residents who expressed understandable concerns about the previous plan. Some thoughtful folks have raised questions about the new plan, and the Administration is at work fleshing out the details and doing an analysis to address those concerns.”
janie – Name 1 address where a developer moved out of their home (Lexington, Bedford?) and into a live demolition and construction site in Somerville, thereby becoming ‘owner-occupants’ while their luxury condos were coming up.
We know how Niedergang voted – – don’t think we forgot. He targeted home owners and older adults. 2019 will be here before we know it and I hope someone runs against him.
Forget dealing with this new and corrupt BOA – they ultimately owe their allegiance to shady groups from outside Somerville for their election and were basically strong armed into supporting the communist/marxist agenda by outside groups. They were told they would get elected if they tow the line – and they’re doing it – that’s the reason for the unanimous vote on something so unpopular. They’re all in the big criminal far-left bag.
Let’s wok at the state level to offset their efforts. Contact each of these and anyone who will vote on this home petition and explain how misguided and stupid this transfer tax is. We all need to do this now!
Pat Jehlen Patricia.Jehlen@masenate.gov
Denise Provost Denise.Provost@mahouse.gov
Christine Barber Christine.Barber@mahouse.gov
Mike Connolly Mike.Connolly@mahouse.gov
Hammer them with calls, mail and emails. Don’t let them get a moment sleep. Let them know how strongly the real people of Somerville are against this tax and the BOA.
This transfer tax is only the first of many far-left nitwit ideas this now BOA will try to shove down our throats. Where the heck is the mayor in all this anyway? Stand up and be counted on the side of the people, Joe. Geeez, grow a damn set.
John_Wilkie,
You do know Mike Connolly is an Our Revolution just like all the new aldermen and a few of the returning ones.
I think all the state people are in the Revolution. When are they going to get highway pollution barriers in East Somerville? Money for Foss Park? They need to start accomplishing things instead of just talking all the time.
The ‘newest’ draft proposal will be discussed at a committee meeting TONIGHT at 7:00 p.m. It sounds like they’ve doubled down, rather than try to address peoples’ concerns.