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Council hears legislative update: conveyance tax proposal and hotel‑tax expansion among items to monitor
Summary
Staff reported on multiple pending bills: a conveyance‑tax enabling bill (SB37) allowing municipalities to levy a marginal conveyance tax over $900,000 for affordable‑housing funds, and competing hotel‑tax expansion bills with differing distributions. Staff will prepare resolutions if the council wishes to signal support.
Town staff updated the council on several bills at the statehouse and sought guidance on whether the council wanted to express support.
Staff distributed a draft of Senate Bill 37, an enabling conveyance‑tax bill that would permit municipalities to impose a marginal fee on the portion of real‑estate consideration above $900,000; staff said the housing board is discussing whether to support the bill and suggested a council resolution could appear on a future agenda if council members want to signal support.
Staff also outlined two pending hotel‑tax expansion bills and recommended the council consider Senate Bill 418 (per staff materials) because that bill would allow towns to keep expanded hotel‑tax revenues (with restrictions) rather than routing them through state tourism accounts. Staff noted the proposed uses in that bill are limited to municipal infrastructure improvements, riverine and coastal resiliency, and housing.
Other items on the legislative list included school bonding, an Alzheimer's coordination bill singled out by a resident speaker for rapid attention, and renewed municipal revenue‑sharing proposals; staff said they would bring resolutions to future agendas if the council signaled support.
