Scituate officials voted to place several revenue related articles on the annual town meeting warrant during the Jan. 20 Select Board meeting, advancing proposals that focus on visitor based fees and short term rentals while leaving final decisions to voters.
Among the actions taken was approval of a pilot program allowing a limited number of nonresident transfer station stickers to be sold to Norwell residents. The board voted to allow the sale of up to 150 stickers for the 2026 calendar year at a cost of $300 each.
Town staff said sticker sales to Scituate residents have declined in recent years, leaving unused capacity at the transfer station. Officials said limiting the pilot program and restricting eligibility to Norwell residents would prevent impacts to Scituate users.
The board also reviewed and advanced several tax related articles for consideration at town meeting, including proposals affecting room occupancy taxes and short term rentals.
Scituate currently assesses a 4% room occupancy tax on lodging stays. The Select Board agreed to place an article on the town meeting warrant that would allow voters to decide whether to increase that rate to 6%, consistent with state law. Board members discussed setting an effective date of Jan. 1, 2027, if approved by town meeting.
Lynda Ferguson, who operates the Inn at Scituate Harbor, addressed the board, speaking about the potential impact of higher occupancy taxes on local businesses.
“As a resident, I understand the need to find creative ways to increase tax revenue without going to the individual taxpayer in an override,” Ferguson said. “I just wanted to make sure that the selectmen and the residents understand this tax does hit the inn’s bottom line.”
James Boudreau, Town Administrator, noted that the delayed effective date would avoid disrupting existing reservations.
In addition to the room occupancy tax article, the board placed two local option articles on the warrant that would allow Scituate to adopt a community impact fee of up to 3% on short term rentals such as Airbnb and VRBO properties. Those fees would be separate from the base occupancy tax and would apply only to short term rentals, not traditional inns.
“This isn’t about the inn,” Select Board member James Gilmore said. “This is really about the expanding short term rental market that isn’t the inn that is actually currently not a very controlled and not a very accountable issue.”
Under state law, 35% of any revenue generated by the community impact fee would be reserved for affordable housing and local infrastructure, with the remaining portion going to the town’s general fund.
Town staff cited a Department of Revenue estimate that adoption of the fee could generate as much as $160,000 annually, while cautioning that actual revenue could be significantly lower. Officials said no projected revenue from the proposed taxes has been included in current budget planning.
Board members also discussed whether revenue from short term rental fees could eventually help support enforcement and oversight, particularly as complaints about unregistered rentals continue.
Final decisions on the tax related proposals will be made by voters at Town Meeting.
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