Our View: Support The RTE

The Chatham Select Board will vote Sept. 1 on implementing a residential tax exemption (RTE). The proposal has been controversial, to say the least, with nonresident property owners (and some year-round residents) calling it unfair and divisive. As of this week, three board members have indicated they will support the exemption. We encourage the entire board to show unanimity in support of property owners who call the town home year-round by passing the RTE.

 First, some myth busting. The select board did not suddenly invent the residential tax exemption. It’s been an option for Massachusetts communities for about 40 years. More than 20 have adopted it, including several on the Cape. It has to be voted on annually and can be repealed, although no community that has adopted it has done so. The RTE does not levy new taxes; it shifts some of the existing tax burden to nonresident property owners.

 The chief criticisms of the RTE is that it unfairly raises the property taxes of nonresidents, who have no vote on town matters; that officials have not specified who the measure is meant to benefit; and that many year-round residents will not benefit because they rent and do not own property.

 Indeed, the RTE will raise taxes on nonresident property owners. Under the 20 percent exemption proposed by the select board, the owner of a second home valued at about $1 million will pay an additional $382, while a year-round resident with a similarly valued home will save $941. While that may not seem like much these days, for a struggling family trying to pay a mortgage, put food on the table and their homes heated, it’s a meaningful amount. 

 Those opposed to the RTE have said they favor helping year-round residents who need assistance, but don’t think such broad-based relief is appropriate. They say there should be a means test to determine who would benefit most. While that makes sense on the surface, it’s a nonstarter, since it would require an act of the legislature. Many states have broad-based tax relief programs, such as homestead acts, that benefit resident homeowners. The RTE is Massachusetts’ version of that. Critics say the RTE will benefit those who are well off and own expensive properties. True. But we venture that there are far more homeowners for whom the extra $1,000 or so will make a measurable difference in their lives. 

 Why adopt it now? Nonresident owners are chiefly responsible for driving up the cost of housing in Chatham and the region, and this has reached a crisis point, with the cost of homeownership out of the reach of most full-time workers. Nonresident owners are the reason Chatham has police, fire and other departments scaled to serve 30,000 people rather than 6,500 year-round residents. No one disputes the contributions nonresidents make to the town, supporting nonprofits and contributing to the community, but they must also take responsibility for many of the elements that make it difficult for working people to afford to live here year-round. We recognize that many nonresident homeowners are not wealthy, that they may have inherited their property and struggle to pay their taxes just as year-round residents do. But having a second home is a choice, a luxury, no matter how you cut it, and it’s not the same as struggling to keep the only roof you have over your head.

The RTE is not perfect. It will not benefit renters or some whose property is in certain types of trusts. But delaying it a year, as the finance committee recommended and town meeting urged, will not change that. A finance committee working group report identified some 28 existing programs that assist residents; most address the needs of seniors or children, leaving those in the middle with nothing to fall back on, as the report indicates. A clearinghouse for those and other programs, which the report suggests, is a good idea, but that should be an effort separate from the RTE.

 Frankly, when anyone says they have sympathy for locals who are struggling but they oppose the RTE, we hear echoes of the tired refrain heard about affordable housing: “We support affordable housing, but…” Even though it is broad-based and won’t help every year-round resident, the RTE will help many, which is reason enough to support it. As many a wise person has said, don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. If officials find that the RTE has more detriments than benefits, it can be voted out next year. We won’t know unless we try.