Hamilton County commissioners are looking to increase the county transfer tax (the tax the seller pays the county when someone sells their home) by 33% in order to cut in to the $29-million-dollar deficit the county faces.
The plan was formulated after the proposed sales tax increase for 2019 was shot down by legal challenges and petitions.
Currently, when someone goes to sell a property in Hamilton county the seller pays $3.00 per every $1,000.00 of the property’s sales price. The new proposal would increase the amount to $4.00 per $1,000.00.
So for a quick example. If you live in Hamilton county and were looking to sell your house for $250,000.00 the current transfer tax would be $750.00. Under the new proposal that tax would would increase to $1000.00.
They believe this will increase would bring in an additional $3.7 million a year.
From the Cincinnati.com article (Read More about the proposal)
Realtors have consistently opposed raising the transfer fee.
The fear is that it would discourage people from buying homes and moving into the county, said Mark Quarry, director of government affairs for the Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors. Quarry said the Realtors support increasing the sales tax as the fairest way to deal with the county’s budget crisis.
Only time will tell if the proposal will pass and if the tax increase will harm sales and if the $3.9 million increase will be enough to help offset a $29 million-dollar deficit.
As always, we’re here to answer your questions at Fidelity Land Title Agency. Please reach out if you would like to discuss more.
– Dave Kennedy
dkennedy@fidelitylandtitle.com