The Democrat-controlled Massachusetts House of Representatives has dropped Gov. Maura Healey’s “mansion tax” proposal from the housing bond bill that will be voted on this week.
The State House News Service reported the $4.1 billion housing bond bill moved by the House Ways and Means Committee will feature a provision for accessory dwelling units by right in single-family zoning districts. It will also include a $150 million program to help localities convert commercial properties into multifamily residential or mixed-use properties with tax credits to cover development costs.
But Healey’s proposal to create a local-option tax on real estate transactions for $1 million and higher was omitted – the funds that would have been raised by this tax would have been used to finance affordable housing. According to Zillow, the average Massachusetts home value is $612,509, up 8.7% over the past year. In Boston, the median home price is $960,000.
When asked for her response to the omission of the “mansion tax” proposal, Healey said she had not read the redraft of the budget bill but added, “I’m just glad to know that it’s out.”
Photo: King of Hearts / Wikimedia Commons
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It is good for the economy that legislators dropped Gov. Maura Healey’s “mansion tax” proposal from the housing bond bill. Middle-class Americans are fed up with being the group that carries the financial stick of public policies. A million-dollar home is not a home of the elite. It’s everyday people whose kitchen table issues are the same as the average American. Stop penalizing middle-class America as the donkey everyone kicks to fund their public policy wishlist.