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Housing board questions short-term rental revenue assumption after financial reports show $15,000 tax gap
Summary
Board members and a local reporter pressed staff to remove an assumed $125,000 short-term rental revenue line from pro formas used to model a $2 million warrant after financial reports showed roughly $15,000 less tax income year-to-date compared with last fiscal year.
At its meeting, the Block Island Housing Board reviewed financial reports and discussed a discrepancy of about $15,000 between year-to-date tax income for 2025 and the comparable June 30, 2024 total.
Renee Meyer of the Block Island Times questioned a $125,000 short-term rental (STR) revenue line included across pro forma scenarios supporting the $2 million warrant. “If you're going to go before the voters on this, do a pro forma without that because it seems like that's kind of pie in the sky to me,” Meyer said.
Board staff and members said the STR line was an assumption carried in earlier drafts and not yet approved or reallocated by the town. Chris, a staff member who prepared the pro formas, said the figure was a back-of-the-envelope estimate from previous meetings. Cindy, a board member, clarified the STR-related revenue referenced the town’s short-term rental registration fee — a $200 per-property registration the town already collects — and that reallocating that local fee to the housing board would require town action.
Board members discussed operational steps to improve collection and reconciliation of the registration fee and tax returns. Staff said they have been exploring options to accept online payments and to cross-reference payments against the town’s licensing system (OpenGov), but no integrated solution was yet in place and some manual reconciliation may be necessary.
The board approved the financial reports by unanimous voice vote (motion made and seconded; roll-call names were not recorded in the transcript). Members said they will revise the pro formas to remove or present alternate scenarios without the $125,000 STR assumption before finalizing voter materials.
Ending: The board directed staff to refine the pro formas, pursue better payment and audit processes for the short-term rental registration fee, and to redesign the registration form for clearer taxpayer understanding before the next collection cycle.
