Realtors Oppose State Budget

EAST HARTFORD — The Connecticut Association of Realtors, Inc (CAR) opposes the budget deficit compromise signed February 28 by Governor John Rowland. According to CAR, the budget includes regressive and onerous taxes on the sale of homes.

Effective March 15 home sellers will be required to pay a .25 percent town conveyance tax on the sale price of their properties. This amounts to a 127 percent boost in the present town conveyance tax. On March 15 the seller’s town tax goes from $220 to $500 on a $200,000 house, not including any “targeted town tax” that may be added or the other conveyance tax that the state keeps (in this case, $1,000 or .50 percent).

The “targeted town tax” also gives municipalities in 18 specific investment communities the option to levy an additional local conveyance tax of .25 percent of the sale price. The targeted communities are Bloomfield, Bridgeport, Bristol, East Hartford, Groton, Hamden, Hartford, Meriden, Middletown, New Britain, New Haven, New London, Norwalk, Norwich, Southington, Stamford, Waterbury, and Windham.

According to CAR President Denise Robillard, “While lawmakers have proposed this tax in an effort to provide distressed municipalities an opportunity to increase municipal revenues, by discouraging people from buying homes in urban areas this proposal will actually lead to fewer people moving into our cities and will decrease the tax base.”

Ms Robillard continued, “This new sales tax on the purchase of homes as well as the increase in the existing tax represents a huge increase and an unfair tax burden on a very small portion of the taxpayers in the state. It will discourage middle- and low-income families from purchasing new homes.

“It’s unfortunate that in their attempt to fix the state’s budget crisis, our lawmakers have made a decision that will endanger what has been a healthy real estate sector that has been driving the Connecticut economy through the last two years. Connecticut’s home sellers deserve better.”