State Sen. Julian Cyr and Rep. Dylan Fernandes came before Island leaders on Monday to pitch a statewide real estate transfer tax, as political headwinds shift with the upcoming election.
Representatives from both Islands came together on Tuesday to discuss housing and other shared issues during a rare joint meeting that included nearly two dozen select board members.
With just a handful of days left in the current Massachusetts legislative session, proponents of a statewide mechanism to finance affordable housing acknowledge that the issue is dead on Beacon Hill for this year.
A six-member review committee made up of one person from each Island town will take a last look at the act to establish an Islandwide housing bank before it heads to the state legislature.
Buoyed by a final, resounding vote of support this week in Tisbury for the Martha’s Vineyard housing bank, the coalition behind the plan is charting next steps in a still-lengthy process.
Tisbury voters elected a new select board member and gave a final, resounding stamp of approval to the bill to create a Martha’s Vineyard Housing Bank in a quiet town election Tuesday that saw low turnout. Just 552 of the town’s 3,710 voters cast ballots.
Chilmark became the fourth town to approve the Island-wide housing bank at the ballot box Wednesday, paving the way for the home rule petition to move on to the state legislature.
Chilmark voters head to the polls today to cast their ballots for the proposed housing bank initiative, along with 15 town positions up for re-election but only one contested race.