STOP The UNFAIR Tax

Dear South Carolina Voter,

Last week you heard from us about The Stop the Unfair Tax campaign - which aims to educate South Carolina families and businesses about a flawed law called "point of sale." The current law allows local governments the right to charge higher property taxes when businesses are sold, or someone wants to buy a home.

What's worse is some local governments have seen a huge windfall from this tax, and even increased spending at a time when you and I have cut back. That’s not right, it’s not fair, and we must put a stop to this now! City and county government lobbyists are working hard to keep this unfair tax, but we can stop them if we work together.

We have a unique opportunity - THIS WEEK - to help fix this flawed law, and get our economy back on track. Together we can stop this unfair tax. It’s simple: go to http://www.itsjustnotfair.org/and:

1. Click “Take Action” and then the “Contact Your Legislator”;
2. Send an email (it takes less than five minutes) to your state representative and senator; and
3. Forward the message to your friends and family.

Let your voice be heard - use our action center to tell the politicians that it’s time to fix the unfair tax - and stop listening to special interests lobbyists for cities and counties - by supporting a current bill - HB 3272 - that will fix the problem, and help get our state’s economy moving again!

Sincerely,

Stop the Unfair Tax Campaign

PS-Please act today - the window to change this law is closing!

Paid for by the South Carolina REALTORS® Association.

POINT OF SALE STALLS

Sadly yet again an important bill to stimulate commerce in our state has stalled. Below I have posted an update from Cashion Drolet, VP of Goverment Affiars for the South Carolina Realtor organization.

Unfortunately, the Senate did not debate or vote on H.3272 prior to adjourning Thursday evening. They never got to it because of a filibuster on an unrelated bill that was one slot ahead of H.3272 on the Special Order calendar. This means that it will be January until the Senate can address point of sale assessment.

However, I beg you not to get discouraged. We must stay focused and united on this issue. The good news is that we retain our place on the Senate calendar, and will not have to start over from the beginning when the General Assembly convenes the 2010 legislative session.

Between now and then, SC REALTORS® will be working on the six Senators who have objections to H.3272. Senators Yancey McGill, Kent Williams, John Matthews, Phil Leventis, Brad Hutto, and Floyd Nicholson retain their objections to H.3272 on the Senate calendar going in to January. The biggest opponents to addressing point of sale remain county and municipal government. They worked very hard against us and will continue to do so. Therefore, we will also commence a statewide point of sale campaign to put the necessary pressure on Senators that this issue cannot be ignored, and SC REALTORS® will not relent!

The bill we support, 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.

Also I have posted what SCBIZ had to say on the issue in its Friday, May 22 report:

Point-of-sale reassessment bill stymied for this year

Friday, 22 May 2009
By Mike Fitts

mfitts@scbiznews.com

COLUMBIA -- A change to point-of-sale reassessment of real estate has apparently stalled for the year in the Legislature.

S.C. Realtors Association CEO Nick Kremydas said the bill, which has passed the House, got caught up in the Senate’s fights over unrelated matters and opposition, especially from Senate Democrats.

Kremydas said leadership in both parties has committed to debate the bill early next year, but he fears that South Carolina’s commercial real estate market will take a pounding in the coming months. “This legislation could have helped buffer that fall,” he said.

The bill would put off reassessments until the county’s regular five-year cycle. Real estate experts have complained that the immediate reassessments to sale price have brought a huge jolt, because the actual price has often been far higher than the most recent assessment on the books. Top executives in the real estate industry have complained that the changes created huge inequities and disincentives to buy.

Kremydas called the delay “very disappointing” for Realtors, who rallied at the Statehouse earlier this week to show support for the measure.

Advocates for local governments have opposed the bill. The Municipal Association of South Carolina argues that the measure hurts local tax revenues by artificially capping at 15% the amount that a home’s assessed value can increase, no matter the new sale price, and by shifting more of the cost of government onto owners of property that appreciates more slowly.

The 15% cap was put in place to protect current homeowners, not buyers, the association said in a statement.
Kremydas and municipal association deputy executive director Reba Campbell both said, however, that the layoff could provide time for differing sides on the issue to work out a compromise that would satisfy local government and real estate business concerns.

If you have questions on who you can contact at the state lever to ensure they are aware property tax reform is important to all property owners in South Carolina please do not hesitate to Owen at 843.224.5398 or e-mail him directly at Owen@OwenTyler.com. And should you have questions about real estate Owen is always available to help.