Posted on 02/15/2005 7:06:22 AM PST by 1Old Pro
By Paul Ertelt
Ottaway News Service
peottaway@aol.com
Albany ? Local governments in the Hudson Valley should have the option
of establishing a local tax to help control sprawl, Goshen Supervisor Honey
Bernstein said yesterday.
Bernstein was in the state Capitol to lobby for legislation that would
allow towns to levy their own real-estate transfer tax to pay for
open-space projects.
Two years ago, Goshen and four other Orange County towns ? Warwick,
Hamptonburgh, Montgomery and Crawford ? pushed for similar legislation, but
the bill died in committee, she said. In November, Goshen voters approved a
$5 million bond measure to accomplish that purpose.
Under proposed legislation, which has been endorsed by Gov. George
Pataki, communities around the state would be allowed to levy a real-estate
transfer tax of up to 2 percent on higher-end home sales.
The money would go into a fund that could be used to buy land or
conservation easements, protect farmland from development or preserve
historic buildings.
Sen. Carl Marcellino, R-Syosset, said the program would not be a state
mandate. Before the program would go into effect in any town, it would have
to be approved by a vote of the town board and a local referendum.
"We are not forcing this down anybody's throat," Marcellino said.
Sen. John Bonacic, R-C-Mount Hope, said he doesn't oppose local
real-estate transfer taxes, but he believes that communities should be
allowed to use the money for things other than protecting open space.
"Why limit it just for open space?" he said. "I would like to see a
broader program."
"OPEN SPACE" TAXES. Has your town taxed you yet to "preserve" open space-
America's drive for acreage (Smart Growth not wanted)
My town bougth up the 1400 acres directly behind my huse and another couple hundred acres at the end of my street. Great land for quad riding!
My town tax-paying neighbors bougth up the 1400 acres directly behind my huse and another couple hundred acres at the end of my street. Great land for quad riding!
Do you support your neighbors being taxed to pay for everything you desire?
Want to stop sprawl or at least slow it down? Here is how it could be done:
* Drastically lower property taxes and cut business regulations in urban and inner ring suburbs
* Reduce or throw out slope density or lot density regs
* Overtly move urban and innter ring suburbs to the right politically
* Crack heads in the schools in these same areas
* Utterly smash crime in the same areas
Failing all this, sprawl is gonna happen, and to those experiencing anxiety about it, all I can say is, get over it.
It seems to me that its merely saying that its not up to the state to levy taxes to buy open spaces, but up to the local communities.
If people on the local level want to vote for local politicans that will raise their taxes to buy "open spaces," that's their business, not Albany's.
The potential for abuse here is incredible. I'll bet all the land around the pols houses gets bought up with taxpayer funds. Not to mention areas next to their big contributors homes.
Yep, the only "good" thig about the proposal is that it would require a vote (referendum). However, we have public school tax votes as well and my taxes go up 4-7% every single year.
If you want to reduce urban sprawl, elimminate the death tax. That way, families can keep the house/family farm instead of selling it off to developers to cover the tax burden of the deceased parent.
I do not disagree that could well be the case in most areas, however that is not the case in my town.
They are giving a tree farmer a real ration of crap over logging out a portion of his land they want to buy, though, and I may just have to add this citizens voice to his fight.
There are no justifiable reasons to tax personal property owners any further for the sale of their assets. This bill also tries to gain support by fanning the flames of class envy and taxing only "higher end" properties. The personal property ping list needs to be heard from.
If it gets approved by referendum, you're really just kinda screwed that you live in an area surrounded by big-government liberal humps. But in that case, at least any "open spaces" will be in your own community and will likely have a positive effect on your home value.
If Albany levies the taxes, the "open areas" will be three hundred miles from your home, most likely near someplace the Patakis own property.
WA state has a tax on real estate sales, called an excise tax. The unusual feature of the WA state tax is that the tax is assessed on which ever side of the transaction lives in WA. So whether you buy or sell a property in the state you could be billed for the tax if you are not savy enough to look for it on your closing statement.
The Democrats in WA have enjoyed windfalls from this excise tax in recent years and are still claiming budget shortfalls. No one wants to talk about where this windfall is going.
NY has a mortgage tax as well. Much of it already goes to state,county and local tax general funds.
Yep, indeed. So true.
That's exactly what happened in a Michigan township - a friend of the board had a parcel of land smack dab in the middle of a pattern of open space buys, thus providing a 1000% increase in the value of that parcel for sale to developers.
Democrats are EXPERT at manipulating the political system to the benefit of themselves and their friends.
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