Municipalities will be less reliant on the property tax if they have greater freedom to develop other local revenue sources such as meals, parking, and rental car taxes. However, because some cities and towns have more restaurants, parking, and rental car agencies than others, a portion of the revenue collected should be shared regionally.
The Commonwealth should consider changes to the motor vehicle excise tax (MVE) to better reflect the value of the automobile, as well as to aggressively tackle the issue of tax evasion caused by misrepresentation on car and truck registrations. The Legislature should also close the telecommunications tax loophole that exempts poles and wires of telephone companies from property tax; this change would result in about $78 million in new revenue for the state’s municipalities.
18.a The legislature should permit municipalities to collect meals tax, parking excise taxes, and rental car surcharges
18.b Allow municipalities to collect a hotel/motel excise tax for the full cost of booking
18.c The Registry of Motor Vehicles and the Legislature should collaborate to adjust motor vehicle excise tax depreciation
18.d The Legislature should close the telecommunications property tax loophole.