TRENTON, N.J. – Phil Murphy isn’t backing down on his support for a short-term rental tax that’s hurting Jersey Shore rentals this summer. At least not yet.
On June 27th, the Governor received legislation (S-3158/A-4814) to exempt homeowners in all 21 counties from short-term rentals taxes which punish rentals booked through online services, notably Airbnb.
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Democrats pushed the original tax through the legislature despite vocal opposition from the state’s mostly Republican Jersey Shore legislators; the exemption “fix” received bipartisan support but the Governor dismissed legislators’ concerns as the product of “an anecdotal observation, this is not an empirical one,” telling reporters on Tuesday that “[t]here’s no evidence whatsoever that this has held back business on the Jersey Shore.”
Unsurprisingly, Jersey Shore legislators (along with many of their constituents who own property and businesses in Cape May, Atlantic, Ocean or Monmouth counties) disagree with Murphy’s “anecdotal” explanation.
“Instead of helping the hard working homeowners of the Jersey Shore, the governor chose to leave the country and take his family to Italy on vacation,” complained Assemblymen Greg McGuckin (R-10) of Ocean County. “Our summer season is halfway over and the governor still refuses to sign this urgent bill to help our Shore economy thrive. It seems as if he cares more about the Italian tourism industry than New Jersey’s.”
The Murphy Airbnb tax applied New Jersey’s 6.625% sales tax and 5& hotel and motel occupancy “fee” to short-term rentals defined as those under the 90-day threshold and privately listed (not through a realtor).
Murphy and his family left for his $7.3 million Italian villa while the exemption bill remained sitting on the Governor’s desk.
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