Gov. Maura Healey filed laws Friday that will enable cities and cities to hike taxes on lodge stays and meals, an choice the first-term Democrat argued is important to assist municipalities “facing long-term fiscal pressures” elevate extra money.
In a submitting letter despatched Friday, Healey mentioned giving locals the flexibility to boost taxes on lodges and meals and put in place an as much as 5% surcharge on motorized vehicle excise payments will let elected officers “avoid raising property taxes” on residents who’re fighting excessive housing prices.
“Importantly, the ideas in this bill come directly from engagement with local officials across the state. They asked for improved fiscal stability, operational efficiency, and flexibility,” Healey wrote within the letter. “That is what this bill delivers.”
The proposal would let cities and cities enhance the lodging tax on lodges, motels, and different leases from 6% to 7% in “most communities,” and 6.5% to 7.5% in Boston. Native municipalities may additionally enhance the meals tax from .75% to 1% beneath the invoice.
Metropolis and city governments would have the flexibility so as to add a brand new local-option surcharge of as much as 5% on motorized vehicle excise payments that may be devoted to native stabilization funds.
Healey filed the invoice final 12 months nevertheless it didn’t clear the Legislature after Democrats gave the proposal blended reactions. Native officers throughout the state celebrated the invoice whereas enterprise teams criticized it for making Massachusetts much less aggressive in comparison with neighboring states.
The governor didn’t embody on this 12 months’s model language from her unique invoice that will let cities and cities skirt round state approval when greenlighting extra liquor licenses. That provision was dropped from final 12 months’s laws solely days after Healey introduced it.
Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch mentioned though town he leads could not implement the native choice tax will increase, they’re “great tools to have in the tool chest.”
“I know there’s communities that may be up against it with (proposition) two and a half that this gives them some other options to raise some revenue. We’ve got some hotels. We’ve got plenty of restaurants. And we do well with those taxes. So at some point, that may be very helpful to us,” Koch mentioned, referring to the regulation that limits the quantity of property tax revenues a neighborhood can elevate by actual and private property taxes.
The native choice tax will increase additionally acquired a nod from Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.
“Cities and towns depend on support from the commonwealth to diversify our revenues, build schools, and cut the red tape on buying goods and services from local businesses. Thank you to Gov. Healey and Lt. Gov. Driscoll for your ongoing partnership with the City of Boston and all our municipal governments,” she mentioned in a press release offered by Healey’s workplace.
Healey proposed the native choice tax will increase simply over per week after she rolled out her $62 billion fiscal 12 months 2026 finances, which makes an attempt to impose taxes on sweet gross sales, artificial nicotine, and complimentary lodge rooms.
The lodge and meals hike drew warmth from the Nationwide Federation of Unbiased Companies.
The group’s Massachusetts state director, Chris Carlozzi, mentioned native taxation is “particularly alarming for small businesses” and the surcharge on motorized vehicle excise payments may make it more durable for corporations who depend on their vehicles to do enterprise.
“(Small businesses) faced labor shortages. They faced years of shutting down and restrictions and having to abide by state guidelines, and are still recovering from that,” he informed the Herald. “A lot of small businesses have had to do belt tightening over the past few years, and municipal governments and state government will have to do the same thing.”
Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle mentioned she understands that there will likely be extra taxes on meals or lodge stays if the invoice clears the Legislature and municipalities choose in to the measures.
However cities and cities want extra income to supply experiences “at the level that folks deserve to get when dollars are always short on a local level,” LaChapelle mentioned.
“It’s a balancing act,” she informed the Herald. “It’s supply and demand based on government services and things that communities might need … to attract more folks to stay and eat in their communities.”
Healey’s invoice additionally features a vary of different proposals like updating enforcement mechanisms for double pole violations and expediting their removing — a measure LaChapelle mentioned would earn a whole lot of “high fives” in native Public Works Departments.
Double poles are utility poles that, for some motive, usually are not steady and immediate utility corporations to put in a second pole subsequent to the unique one to assist prop it up. LaChapelle mentioned that may clog up foot site visitors and make it more durable for cities and cities to repair sidewalks.
“Streets and the sidewalks weren’t made for utility poles at all. So even one is disruptive to walking access, but two can literally take up two-thirds of that sidewalk,” she mentioned.
