Property tax talks heat up again

Negotiations are continuing this week between South Carolina real estate agents, who are pushing for new tax breaks for those who buy property in the state, and associations representing local governments and school districts that are concerned about revenue losses during a time of budget cuts.

Last week, a tentative deal fell apart when the S.C. Association of Realtors withdrew its support for a plan that would have resulted in property tax breaks for commercial real estate purchases.

The Realtors said tax breaks should be extended to residential property as well, and tax breaks should be larger than had been agreed upon.

Under current law, properties are reassessed when there's an ownership change, resulting in higher taxes that Realtors said are scaring buyers away. Properties that don't change ownership enjoy capped assessments, due to tax-law changes approved in 2006.

On Monday, the Realtors and the associations met in Clemson with Sen. Thomas Alexander, a Walhalla Republican who is leading the talks, for negotiations that lasted for more than two hours.

"It was productive, but we obviously have differences about how you address the situation," Alexander said.

If the Realtors' latest proposal were accepted, the only properties that would be taxed at full value in South Carolina would be new construction and properties that were sold in 2007, 2008 and 2009 and subjected to what's called point-of-sale reassessment.

"The big issues are still hanging out there," Robert Croom, deputy counsel for the S.C. Association of Counties, said Tuesday. "The proposal that was out there last week was fairly significant, in terms of revenue loss (for local governments and schools), and it was designed to spur the market.

"It seems the Realtors want to go way beyond wanting to jump-start the economy," he said. "I'm not sure that what they have on the table is even defensible in terms of the equal protection clause of the Constitution."

Alexander asked legislative staff to research various scenarios that he can report back to the parties involved -- the S.C. Association of Realtors, S.C. School Boards Association, S.C. Association of Counties and Municipal Association of South Carolina.

"Senator Alexander called a meeting tomorrow for all of the groups to continue the negotiations on the point-of-sale bill," said Miriam Hair, head of the Municipal Association.

"The Municipal Association plans to attend and continue in good faith to find a resolution that will not erode the tax base of cities, towns, counties and schools for years to come."

Nick Kremydas, CEO of the S.C. Association of Realtors, did not have a comment on the ongoing talks.