The following popped into my mailbox yesterday. Since the legislation would allow county boards to impose fees on the sale of homes, I thought folks might be interested in it this memo from the Illinois Association of Realtors:
Illinois Home Buyers to Get Whacked With More Little Fees — This Time for an “Affordable Housing Trust”
On Wednesday the Illinois Senate Local Government Committee approved legislation OPPOSED by the Illinois Association of Realtors.
Senate Bill 3001, sponsored by Senator Susan Garrett would permit all counties the authority to establish an affordable housing trust fund by imposing ANOTHER surcharge on the recordation of any real estate related documents.
Fees would be imposed by ordinance of the county board WITHOUT VOTER APPROVAL for the purpose of providing financial support for affordable housing activities for low and moderate income households “as determined by the county board.”
The bill grants a county board the authority to impose a charge that begins at $5 in 2010 and 2011 which can be increased up to $10 after 2019.Pam Althoff
Voting AGAINST the REALTOR position: Senators Maggie Crotty, Gary Forby, Linda Holmes, Toi Hutchinson, Terry Link and Pam Althoff (emphasis added because of her representation of this area)
Voting WITH the REALTOR position: Senators (Larry) Bomke and (Brad) Burzynski
Sounds like another government boondoggle to me… Take from the poor homebuyer (or perhaps it will be levied on the seller) and give to Government Bureaucrats with pennies going to some sort of trust that supposedly helps homes be more affordable for someone (who probably shouldn’t be buying in the first place – because they can’t afford it)
Rick Hauser
The only local legislator mentioned is State Senator Pam Althoff.