Shortly after November’s election it became apparent that tax reform would be a top priority for the Trump administration. That’s also when the leadership at the National Apartment Association began kicking around ideas on how to get its voice heard on the matter.
NAA President & CEO Robert Pinnegar said his organization and its members do not want to see a repeat of the last time the tax code was overhauled in 1986. “Tax reform is a huge issue for our members and something that they’ve been talking about ever since it first appeared on the horizon,” Pinnegar told Multifamily Executive. “The Tax Reform Act of 1986 really destabilized commercial real estate and severely impacted the apartment industry. It’s one of those things that people who were in the industry and actually had to survive the downturn that was created…it’s a very real issue for them and they’re very concerned on what that will do to the industry.”
With those concerns in mind, NAA launched the "Protect the Lease" campaign on Monday, which focuses on “advocating for smart tax policy that promotes economic growth, job creation, and investment in neighborhoods and communities,” according to the announcement.
The grassroots campaign seeks to ensure that the “Trump administration and Congress understand what's at stake for the national apartment housing industry and, ultimately, the U.S. economy,” as they discuss changing the U.S. tax code.
All too often, Pinnegar says, “the conversation here in DC is more about the politics and less about the impact on the people out there on Main Street.”
The Protect the Lease campaign aims to activate the NAA’s 78,000 members and have them lobby their representatives. The NAA has reached out to its 170 affiliates across the country and is identifying the main contacts who will work with elected officials on this issue.
In partnership with the National Multifamily Housing Council, ProtectTheLease.com went live Monday, detailing the association’s message on smart tax policy. The website provides ways for interested parties to take action in the cause, like sharing their story with Congress about working in the apartment industry.
Pinnegar says it’s crucial for the NAA and its members to make their feelings on this subject known early and often. “Tax reform is a variety of issues and once it’s introduced it’s going to change and move over time," he says. “So we’re going to have to have an ongoing conversation about aspects of how various changes would impact the industry.”
In grassroots fashion, he’s encouraging members to write Letters to the Editor in their local newspaper and host property tours for elected officials in order to detail the potential impacts of tax reform first hand.
According to the NAA, the apartment housing industry provides more than 20 million apartment homes for nearly 39 million Americans and supports jobs for 12.3 million people. Together the apartment industry and its residents annually contribute $1.3 trillion to the U.S. economy.
So what would Pinnegar like to see done?
“I’d like to see no harm done with respect to tax reform,” he says. “We anticipate tax reform is going to occur. We want it to be done in a way that’s going to preserve our existing housing stock, that’s going to allow for new housing stock to be created, and not overly impact the operation of rental housing nor the residents in our rental housing because if tax reform is done in such a way that it impacts either ourselves or our residents, the industry and the economy is going to be impacted severely.
The tax reform conversation should heat up in the coming months with plenty of interested parties looking to have their say. The "Protect the Lease" campaign has been launched so the apartment industry isn’t left out.
“Our goal here is to make sure that our elected officials are aware of us, our value to the overall community, communities in which they come from and represent, so as they go through this process in policy making they bear us in mind and seek us out for counsel,” Pinnegar says.
