The North Dakota Association of Realtors has spent close to $900,000 on ads supporting of a ballot measure that would preemptively ban real estate transfer taxes in the state, even though there’s no organized opposition.
Republican state Rep. Scott Louser, who’s also a Realtor, sponsored the measure, which would prevent local governments from adopting transfer taxes to replace revenue they would lose if the legislature decides to slash property taxes, Angie Wieck of Forum News Service reports.
The coordinator of the Yes on Measure 2 campaign told Wieck that the advertising campaign was needed because some voters may not understand that by voting yes, they are not voting to approve a tax, but to ban state and local lawmakers from imposing sales or transfer taxes on the mortgage or transfer of real property.
Since 2007, the National Association of Realtors has worked with state Realtor associations in Louisiana, Arizona, Montana, Oregon and Missouri to pass constitutional amendments banning real estate transfer taxes. This year, Kansas became the first state to repeal an existing real estate transfer tax, with Realtors leading the charge.
In San Francisco, NAR, the California Association of Realtors and the San Francisco Association of Realtors had spent $1.4 million through Sept. 30 to oppose a ballot measure that would attempt to address rising rents by imposing an additional transfer tax on multi-unit residential properties that are resold within five years of purchase. Source: infoforum.com.
