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Association asks lawmakers to exempt privately owned public-use airport infrastructure from property tax
Summary
The Massachusetts Airport Management Association urged the Revenue Committee to back H 3125, which would exempt runway and taxiway infrastructure at privately owned public-use airports from property taxation; the association said 10 of the state's 39 public-use airports are privately owned and currently taxed on aviation infrastructure.
Tom Hurley, executive director of the Massachusetts Airport Management Association, told the Joint Committee on Revenue that H 3125 would remove property taxes on airport infrastructure (runways and taxiways) at privately owned public-use airports while leaving non-aviation land and buildings taxable.
Hurley said 39 public-use airports exist in Massachusetts and that about 10 are privately owned; those privately owned facilities currently pay property taxes on the airport infrastructure they provide to the public. He listed examples by name during testimony and described the proposal as a matter of "economic fairness" intended to align tax treatment more closely with municipally owned airports and Massport facilities, which do not pay property tax.
"What H 3125 does is simply remove the tax burden that they have right now on just the airport infrastructure," Hurley said, and emphasized that non-aviation property would remain taxable.
Committee members asked whether privately owned public-use airports accept all aircraft and about local revenue impacts; Hurley said these airports generally handle smaller aircraft but are open to the public and that the airports vary greatly so impacts would differ by location. He said some airports hold larger tracts of non-aviation land that would remain on the tax rolls.
Hurley acknowledged the question of lost local revenue and said he would follow up with town-level tax figures; he also told the committee the bill has been filed in prior sessions and has been heard multiple times.
No committee vote or formal direction on H 3125 was recorded during the hearing.
