Edisto Beach SC-What about the Point of Sale Taxes???
Beautiful Edisto Beach in the Clouds
Edisto Beach, SC-What about Point of Sale Taxes
The highly flawed 2006 property tax code has severely hurt real estate sales on Edisto Beach. So when is going to be fixed? Here is the recent update:
Legislation
addressing point of sale property tax assessment remains the number one
legislative priority for South Carolina REALTORS® this session. The
leadership and staff of your association spent the summer and fall
traveling the state, meeting with Senators, hosting local delegation
meetings, meeting with local elected officials, compiling data, keeping
the issue in the press and organizing an aggressive REALTOR® campaign
supporting point of sale reform.
As you know, point of sale assessment is adversely affecting the real
estate market and commercial investment in our state. Without
commercial investment and the jobs it brings, we cannot grow our state
out of the current recession. SC Realtors believe addressing point of
sale through passage of H.3272
will provide an immediate economic catalyst to reignite our economy.
Our opposition has argued that H.3272 is just another patch to the tax
reform legislation that was passed in 2006, known as Act 388. SCR
agrees that Act 388 has some serious long-term problems. H.3272 has a
shelf life of only 5 years - enough time to put South Carolinians back
to work and lead us out of the recession. H.3272 gives the Tax
Realignment Commission and the General Assembly the time to do what
needs to be done - an overhaul of the entire tax code.
H.3272 caps point of sale reassessment at 15% and uses that value as
the baseline for the next countywide reassessment cycle. The
legislation is sunset to five years and applies to transactions from
January 1, 2009 forward. After receiving approval by a vote of 85 to 23
by the House, and unanimously passing the Senate Finance Committee, the
bill immediately stalled once it hit the Senate floor, until the Senate
voted to set H.3272 for Special Order by a vote of 34 to 7. This is a
procedural maneuver that improved chances of having the bill considered
despite the objections raised by Senators Matthews, Hutto, McGill, Leventis, Williams, and Nicholson.
While the Senate did not pass H.3272 in 2009, we retain our slot on the
Special Order calendar going in to 2010. We will not relent on this
issue, and your involvement is critical. SC REALTORS® must rally around
this issue to ensure passage early in 2010.
We as Citizens of Edisto
and property owners must continue to put pressure on our legislature.
About a month, we almost let a municipal lobbying group pass some
unfavorable code that would have slowed our chance at getting this tax
code fixed in 2010. Here is the story:
Several
municipal council resolutions have surfaced the past two weeks opposing
any change to point of sale assessment. The Municipal Association is
aggressively encouraging all cities and towns across the state to pass
these resolutions. It is incredibly important that your local
association be vigilant and find out if your city council(s) will be
taking up a resolution opposing H.3272. Now is the time to call your
council members and appropriate local government staff. Please ask them
if they intend to take up the resolution, ask that Realtors be given
the opportunity prior to that meeting to educate the Council on what
point of sale means to your community, and ask them not to bring the
resolution before Council. Being active at the local level is vitally
important to our success at the Statehouse. Thanks to house speaker
Bobby Harrell in his efforts to squash the resolutions. Edisto real estate is safe for the time being. But we need to mandate the change in the SC Tax Code in 2010.
Please
continue to keep informed and involved. It takes all of us to get
things done. We have to keep pushing and making noise. We need to get
our lawmakers focused on the things that matter. Jobs and taxes. If we
let the good old boys keep doing what they have been doing...we will
get the same results. Have a Great Weekend!
Cal Griffin
The Edisto Real Estate Advisor
Be in the Know-About Edisto
Click Here for Free MLS Search
Mobile 843-908-2101
Email Cal@CalGriffin.com
Reprinted from the SC Realtors
Filed under: Real Estate, Market Conditions, For Sale, For Rent/Lease, Open Houses, Events, Technology, Industry, Point2, Product Reviews, Finances, Buyer Information, Seller Information, Community Information, Edisto Island, Ocean Front, Edisto Beach, Edisto Realty, sc, beach walk, deepwater, resort, marshside, Edisto Beach Real Estate, Edisto MLS Search
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