Delegates, residents debate regional real estate transfer fee to fund Cape Cod housing

At the Aug. 20, 2025 meeting of the Cape Cod Regional Government Assembly of Delegates, delegates and more than a half-dozen public speakers discussed a proposal to seek state permission for a regional real estate transfer fee that proponents say could fund affordable and workforce housing across the Cape.

Supporters told the assembly the fee could provide a new, steady funding stream for local housing trusts and projects, while critics and nonprofit and environmental speakers urged strict limits on where and how the money would be used. Administrator Michael Dutton told delegates the effort would require both a state home rule petition and a county ordinance; he said the proposal is at an early stage and would require extensive town-by-town coordination.

The proposal discussed would assess a small percentage fee on residential sales above a to-be-determined dollar threshold; public speakers repeatedly cited a 2% example and $2,000,000 sales thresholds that are under discussion. John Terrio, a select board member in the town of Dex, told the assembly he learned of the idea from an email distributed by the Housing Assistance Corporation and offered an early data point: “in 02/2024, there were…