What The VA Supreme Court Did Today That Gives Sellers A Reason To Dance!
February 29th, 2008 categories: For Homeowners, Local Issues, Real Estate News
1. Northern Virginia has transportation issues. Northern Virginia has a large population. Northern Virginia is growing.. Quickly. Northern Virginia roads need help.
2. Northern Virginia homeowners trying to sell don’t have extra money to pay for the road problems.
At the beginning of 2008, the Northern VA Transportation Authority increased the VA Grantor’s Tax (Congestion Relief Fee) paid when a seller sells their home by 500%! Therefore, instead of sellers paying .10 cents per $100 of what their home sold for, they would pay .50 cents per $100. In other words, on a $600,000 home, sellers no longer pay $600, they pay $3,000!
The fee was increased to help fund our transportation costs. It was the largest transportation investment in the last generation.
This morning the sweet wind of change blew across the Virginia Supreme Court in a unanimous ruling that “a regional authority created by the General Assembly to levy taxes last year for Northern Virginia transportation projects is unconstitutional. In a unanimous opinion, the court said legislators improperly delegated authority to the unelected members of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) to impose seven taxes and fees, including a 500% increase in the grantor’s tax, for funding transportation projects (information given by the Dulles Association Of Realtors).
There is no question concerning the fact that we need funding for improved travel in the area. However, putting this weight on the backs of already struggling home owners at such a huge increase is very questionable.
I am personally not a fan of continually increasing taxes. I hold the opinion that there is many times a better way to meet the needs of the people. If you would like to view Governor Kaine’s response to the ruling, you can view it here.
The implications for this ruling will be expansive. There will be more information to come for those who have sold since the beginning of the year and paid the fee. I will keep you up to date.
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