Realtors head to State House to fight for taxation bill

About 20 Aiken County real estate agents left for Columbia this morning to fight for change in the way property taxes are assessed when property is sold.

“We are excited about going to Columbia this morning to take the opportunity to talk to senators that will be debating and voting on the point of sale bill on Wednesday,” said Ron Pope, Legislative Chairman for Aiken Board of Realtors.

The Aiken County group join colleagues from around South Carolina who are traveling to the State House to make their case for the changes to the law in the waning days of the legislative session this week. The Senate is expected to debate a measure this week that would eliminate the point of sale practice.

In 2006, South Carolina voters approved measures that would cap value increases at 15 percent cap every five years for existing homeowners, and a measure that removes that cap when a sale takes place.

This week, the Realtors hope the S.C. Senate will take up a measure that would keep the cap in place and extend it to new buyers as well for up to five years. Any subsequent assessment would also be limited by the 15 percent cap, even for recent buyers.

Realtors say the change is necessary to get sales going again. They say they are losing sales because of the often steep jump in property taxes once property is reassessed based on a new sale.

On the other side of the issue, city and county governments around the state have slashed their budgets as they face the worst economy in decades. Without new properties being developed, they argue the only avenue for growth in the tax base is to tax recently sold properties at their actual value instead of the artificially lower value imposed by a 15 percent cap on value increases for existing homeowners.

Taxing authorities and opponents say it is having your cake and eating it too by allowing high-end real estate buyers to pay taxes on a lower percentage of the value than those who own more modest properties that have not seen an increase in value.

Contact Mark Nelson at mnelson@aikenstandard.com.