City Manager is requested to instruct the City Solicitor to prepare a draft Home Rule petition for a Real Estate Transfer fee

City of Cambridge O-10 IN CITY COUNCIL January 7, 2019 COUNCILLOR CARLONE MAYOR MCGOVERN COUNCILLOR SIDDIQUI WHEREAS: Affordable housing continues to be a major issue in the City of Cambridge that constituents demand our government addresses; and WHEREAS: The City of Cambridge’s Comprehensive Housing Plan issued a recommendation for a Real Estate Transfer Fee; and WHEREAS: House Bill 4196 “An Act supporting affordable housing with a local option for a fee to be applied to certain real estate transactions” received a favorable review from the House Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government and is now moving forward to the House Committee on Steering, Policy and Scheduling with a recommendation that it pass; and WHEREAS: The Metro Mayor’s Coalition Regional Housing Task Force, composed of 15 cities and towns, including Cambridge, has identified implementing a local transfer fee as a key strategy; and WHEREAS: The Envision Housing recommendations have listed the local real estate transfer fee as a high priority; and WHEREAS: The Cambridge City Council proposed a municipal transfer fee ordinance on February 29, 2016, and was supported unanimously but there has been no progress since then; and WHEREAS: The City of Somerville passed a Home Rule petition for a transfer fee that was reported favorably out of the Massachusetts House Steering, Policy and Scheduling Committee; and WHEREAS: The City of Provincetown’s voters approved a 0.5 percent transfer fee in 2010 that was rejected by the state legislature, but representatives from Provincetown have advocated for said fee every year since; and WHEREAS: The City of Pittsburg instituted a .5 percent transfer fee in 2017 that they estimate will generate $10 million in revenue annually; and WHEREAS: The City of Toronto instituted a transfer fee that contributed about $640 million to the city’s operating budget in 2017 alone; and

WHEREAS: The affordable housing crisis affects the lives of millions of residents around the country, and Cambridge has consistently led the way in addressing local, state and global problems; now therefore be it ORDERED: That the Cambridge City Council consider a Real Estate Transfer Fee Home Rule Petition for residential and commercial properties sold over $2 million, with the funds raised allocated to the Affordable Housing Trust for the creation and preservation of affordable housing in the city; and be it further ORDERED: That the City Manager instruct the Assessor’s office to provide data on possible revenue generated from a transfer fee and the impact on the housing market; and be it further ORDERED: That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to instruct the City Solicitor to prepare a draft Home Rule petition for consideration by the Ordinance Committee for further deliberation and discussion.