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Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lawmakers re-up push for short-term rental taxes to fund housing, education
Between April 2022 and 2023, Maine had almost 24,000 rental properties with at least one reservation, according to a statewide housing study. (Maine Morning Star) Though several legislative attempts to institute taxes on short-term rentals have failed, Democratic lawmakers are trying again this session to institute these surcharges on vacation properties, specifically to support affordable housing for permanent residents and education. Among these proposals being heard Wednesday in the Taxation Committee is the second iteration of a plan from Rep. Charles Skold (D-Portland). His bill, LD 632, would allow a municipality to impose a local option sales tax of 2% on short-term lodging that is subject to the state sales and use tax, if approved by voters in that municipality. This is higher than the 1% sales tax on such properties Skold proposed last year in legislation that failed to gain support on the floor after narrowly being backed by the Taxation Committee by a one-vote margin. Similar to his previous proposal, Skold's bill would require that the revenue the tax generates be used for affordable housing in that municipality. The regulation of short-term rentals, such as Airbnbs, in Maine has largely fallen to municipalities, with cities such as Portland, Rockland and Bar Harbor taking it upon themselves to pass local rules. Portland lawmaker proposes funding affordable housing with short-term rental tax While noting the importance of short-term lodging on the state's economy, Skold and others supportive of his plan last year, including residents along the coast, argued that each housing unit converted into a short-term rental takes away units from individuals and families who would like to stay in Maine full time but who are currently being driven away by a lack of housing supply and high prices. 'This bill does not detract at all from the importance of short-term lodging in our economy, but it allows municipalities heavily impacted by this trend to recover some benefit and use that revenue to help meet their own housing needs,' Skold testified at the time. But real estate, tourist groups and the state's Department of Administrative and Financial Services opposed Skold's proposed tax, arguing it could deter tourists because of higher costs or disadvantage businesses in the communities that choose to enact the tax. There were also concerns over the constitutionality of the bill. DAFS testified that any local sales tax should be structured with the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. in mind, which noted the importance of a simple tax system when imposing sales tax on remote sellers. Other versions of a short-term rental sales tax are being considered this year, too. Rep. Gary Friedmann (D-Bar Harbor) also proposed a bill to permit municipalities to impose a 2% sales tax on short-term lodging, if approved by referendum, to be used for affordable housing. However, Friedmann's bill, LD 746, would require 10% of revenue generated to be transferred to the Maine State Housing Authority to be used to provide subsidies through the rural affordable rental housing program or another program that supports affordable housing development in rural communities, specifically. While differing on the specifics, Skold and Friedmann's proposals to use this tax for affordable housing differ from how Rep. Michael Brennan (D-Portland) is seeking to use revenue generated from such a tax. Brennan proposed LD 225, which would create a higher tax, an additional 3% sales tax on the value of rental living quarters in a hotel or other lodging, with its revenue reserved for the Maine Department of Education to fund school construction and K-12 education. Earlier efforts to institute statewide regulations on short term rentals have attempted to impose fees, rather than a tax. That was the case for a bill from Rep. Tiffany Strout (R-Harrington) last session, as well as another bill in the session before last that specifically tried to place fees on second homes unoccupied by a permanent resident. Both bills died. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is in Maine. NH lawmakers want to change that.
Jan. 30—A New Hampshire legislator has fired the latest round in an on-again, off-again border dispute between Maine and New Hampshire over the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. Republican Rep. Joseph Barton, a freshman lawmaker, is the prime sponsor of a resolution that urges Congress to find that the Piscataqua River and Portsmouth Harbor are within New Hampshire and asks President Donald Trump to designate the duty stations of Portsmouth Naval Shipyard personnel as part of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Congress would have to redraw the boundaries, but Trump can reassign the duty stations, Barton said. The tax status of shipyard employees is a big reason for the resolution, he said. New Hampshire does not have a state income tax, and residents of the Granite State who work at the shipyard pay Maine taxes. Shifting the borders to bring the shipyard into New Hampshire would shield New Hampshire residents from Maine income taxes. "We won't get more tax revenue," Barton, who worked as an engineer at the shipyard, said in an interview Thursday. "The citizens will get more tax relief." Some Maine income tax revenue would disappear if the more than 3,100 New Hampshire residents who work at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard no longer have state taxes withheld. It wasn't immediately clear how much revenue Maine would lose. A spokeswoman for the state Department of Administrative and Financial Services said taxpayer confidentiality bars disclosure of information. Kittery Town Manager Kendra Amaral said New Hampshire would inherit traffic problems if it takes possession of the Naval Station, which has two land-based access points, both of which run through Kittery. If New Hampshire wants the shipyard it will need to build bridges from Portsmouth to the Naval Station island, "so they can assume all of the traffic congestion and infrastructure impacts Kittery, Maine, shoulders as the host of the (shipyard)," Amaral said. The issue of who has jurisdiction is not new. The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled on a border dispute in Maine's favor in 2001, dismissing New Hampshire's claim to the shipyard. The court denied a New Hampshire request to reconsider, ruling that the boundary between the states is the middle of the Piscataqua River. More than half of the shipyard's nearly 8,000 employees are Mainers, according to the Seacoast Shipyard Association, an advocacy organization. And 56% of the Portsmouth shipyard's $716.2 million payroll is for Mainers and 36% is paid to New Hampshire residents. The remainder of the shipyard workers live in Massachusetts and other states. Its total economic impact in 2023, including purchased goods and services, maintenance and military construction, was more than $1.5 billion. Barton's resolution says jurisdiction and control over the Piscataqua River "is and always has been entirely" within New Hampshire's Rockingham County and "complete dominion and ownership of the tidal waters and submerged lands" of the river, including Portsmouth Harbor, are part of the state. "This is the boundary. This is where it is," he said. The resolution has been the subject of a public hearing and must be voted on by the House and Senate and signed by Gov. Kelly Ayotte. Her office did not respond to an email Thursday asking if she supports the measure. Copy the Story Link
