Earlier this year, BOMA International
sent a survey to each BOMA
local association to determine the top
legislative issues they were facing in
their markets. The results of the survey help BOMA
International match local associations facing similar
challenges, allowing them to share insights and resources
with each other. The responses also create a valuable
snapshot into what issues currently are affecting the
industry across the United States. According to the results,
local associations have primarily grappled with three
main legislative issues: financial challenges, sustainability
mandates and property access issues.
Budgets shouldn’t
be balanced by
turning to taxes
that would harm
businesses of all
sizes.
FINANCIAL CHALLENGES
With many states facing budget
deficits, proposals of new sales taxes
on services have become a recurring
challenge. More than one-third
of all survey respondents cited this
as a major issue. This challenge does
not appear to be going away any time
soon. Taxing services, such as landscaping,
accounting and window
washing, to name a few, risks “tax
pyramiding,” in which businesses or
consumers are taxed multiple times
on the same product or service. Many
states have successfully fended off
these taxes with the message that budgets
shouldn’t be balanced by turning
to taxes that would place a significant
economic burden on businesses.
An equal number of respondents
listed infrastructure fees as another
option being turned to by increasingly
desperate state and local governments.
While the troubling state of the nation’s
infrastructure is a priority issue for
BOMA, these fees place an unfair burden
on commercial properties.
SUSTAINABILITY MANDATES
The commercial real estate industry
has long been a leader in sustainability
initiatives and energy management.
Energy benchmarking has
become an industry best practice, and
many properties are moving beyond
that into waste and water benchmarking.
However, local and state governments
across the country have started
introducing unfunded mandates that,
while designed with good intentions, have created complicated and expensive
requirements for building owners
and managers—often producing
questionable results or unintended
consequences.
A majority of survey respondents (58
percent) said that mandatory energy
benchmarking has been an issue in
their area, and 42 percent said they
were facing energy-efficiency requirements.
A smaller percentage of those
who responded—21 and 16 percent,
respectively—said that mandated storm
water management and water benchmarking
were being introduced in their
areas. A third of respondents said they
were facing other mandates, such as green roof or solar requirements.
BOMA is working
to ensure there
are safeguards
built into the law
that allow for an
opportunity to
truly remedy
accessibility
problems
before being
threatened
with a
financial
settlement.
PROPERTY ACCESS ISSUES
An assortment of other issues cited by
local associations can be categorized
as “access” issues. For example, nearly
one-third of respondents said they
are seeing a dramatic increase in the number of requests
to bring emotional
support or comfort
animals into buildings.
Unlike traditional
service animals,
some of these
animals do not have
the level of training
required to be safely
allowed into public
areas. Local markets
are working to balance
public safety
with the assistance
needs of tenants.
Accessibility is an
ongoing priority for
BOMA members, but
much of the country
also has been experiencing
an upsurge
in “drive-by” lawsuits.
In these lawsuits,
building owners are threatened with legal action for highly
technical violations of the Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA)—sometimes
from plaintiffs who have never been
to the properties—that are designed to
result in a quick financial settlement
rather than to increase accessibility.
More than half of the respondents
cited issues with these lawsuits in their
areas. BOMA is working to ensure there are safeguards built into the law
that allow for an opportunity to truly
remedy problems before being threatened
with a financial settlement.
More than a quarter of respondents
cited firearms and concealed carry laws
as a safety and liability concern. This
issue is further complicated by a maze
of varying policies across the country.
Multiple associations also reported a need for clarifications surrounding
drone use. Although they can be beneficial,
the presence of drones also can
generate safety and privacy concerns,
and state and local governments are
just beginning to consider appropriate
policies.
EVOLVING RESOURCES
BOMA’s local associations and state
coalitions are working year-round to
advance the interests of the commercial
real estate industry on each of these
issues. Your participation in grassroots
advocacy efforts can make a difference;
many local associations offer a variety
of ways to participate, from government
affairs committees to advocacy days at
state capitols.
Local and state
governments across
the country have
started introducing
sustainability
mandates that
have created
complicated
and expensive
requirements for
building owners
and managers.
BOMA International currently is
rolling out a suite of new resources,
including advocacy maps that capture
much of this information on the BOMA
International website; a new state legislative
tracking service; a state and local
advocacy listserv; and a series of white
papers on many of these priority issues.
For further information, please contact
Ken Rosenfeld, BOMA’s director of
State and Local Affairs, at krosenfeld@boma.org.
This article was originally published in the March/April 2018 issue of BOMA Magazine.