Santa Fe NM Real Estate Transfer Tax Win
Baro Shalizi - President - Santa Fe Association of Realtors (SFAR)
I am pleased to report that the city proposed real estate transfer tax ballot initiative failed on a vote of 4,557 ballots (54.2%) cast against the tax and 3,845 ballots (45.8%) cast in favor of the tax. It was a tremendous victory for the Association which had taken a very public position against the proposal as well as the many Realtors and members of the business community who worked so hard to help educate the community on why the tax was so inequitable. We are thankful that voters agreed with our message that the proposal was unfair, targeted older homes, did not provide enough specifics on how the money would be used, was possibly illegal and would not address our long term housing needs. The Association is reaching out to the community to bring all the stakeholders together to advance affordable housing solutions that are both effective and fair. In the coming months, we will be working collaboratively with all stakeholders to help identify methods to increase housing affordability that will certainly include helping Santa Feans buy existing market rate affordable homes and encourage them to take advantage of the $8,000 First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit. Efforts are already underway to demonstrate that the housing community can work together to help stimulate our local housing economy. In a recent meeting with Mayor Coss, he agreed to participate in our local affordable housing outreach plans.
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