The Gilbert Town Council voted 5-1 tonight against lifting the town’s exemption on landlords owning three or fewer properties from having to pay the town a tax on rental payments.
Councilwoman Linda Abbott had brought the issue to the council last month, saying it was not fair to not require all landlords to pay the tax. She said tonight that once someone had accumulated three rental properties they could qualify as an investor and not a “dabbler.”
Councilman Steve Urie, a property manager, said most people who qualify for the exemption are only leasing one property, a former residence they were unable to sell, so changing the policy would mostly affect people not depending on the rentals for income. Other council members said they were unwilling to raise the tax burden on anyone, especially during tough economic times.
Councilman Don Skousen, who has announced he will not be running for re-election next spring, said next year might be a better time to examine the policy. “Let’s see how this market shakes out,” he said. ”Now’s not the time to make things harder for anybody.”
”Now’s not the time to make things harder for anybody.” - Don Skousen
Funny how that didn’t seem to be a problem when this council (just a few months ago) voted to raise service fees for water, voted to raise service fees for sewer, and voted to raise service fees for trash collection, and some of those were raised not just for 2008, but for 4 more years after that as well.