To the editor:
Please consider the following a response to Philip Orenstein’s letter opposing Great Barrington’s proposed real estate transfer fee, which proposal is the subject of a special Selectboard meeting on August 29, 2023.
In a nutshell, Mr. Orenstein’s letter offers conjecture that Great Barrington’s proposed real estate transfer fee would cause construction of new homes to shift to one of the towns neighboring Great Barrington, negatively impacting future tax revenues in his estimation. This is, of course, purely Mr. Orenstein’s supposition. Mr. Orenstein has not provided any empirical evidence from any of the many locations that have imposed real estate transfer fees that would substantiate any deleterious effect on new home construction in those locales.
I attempted to locate data concerning the existence between Mr. Orenstein’s assumed link between new home construction and the imposition of a real estate transfer fees. The only discussion concerning the issue that I was able to locate suggests that the sky will fall in those areas where voters mistakenly approve transfer fees. Unfortunately, I must question the credibility of the report I located. Chicken Little is, in this instance, a real estate-industry-funded report, and I think we can all agree that real estate-industry fearmongering should be taken with a grain of salt.
If Mr. Orenstein’s thesis is correct, home purchasing decisions are driven by tax considerations, but available real estate data suggests otherwise. Every individual considering the purchase of a home in Great Barrington is aware that Great Barrington’s tax rate is greater than those in its neighboring towns and that those additional tax dollars pay for significantly enhanced public services—for which we are all grateful—and permit easy access to all that Great Barrington has to offer.
Utilizing 2022 data, the average price of a home in Sheffield is $491,217; in Great Barrington, it is $566,904; in Stockbridge, it is $696,010; in Lenox, it is $564,416; in Egremont, it is $706,753; and in Alford, it is $987,309. If potential home purchasers were fleeing Great Barrington in droves for its neighbors, as Mr. Orenstein’s theory would suggest, one would anticipate a far greater discrepancy in average home prices than the empirical data reflects. And let’s not forget that those in favor of affordable housing would prefer that Great Barrington’s average home price be less, as the goal is to enable more of our neighbors to afford housing in our community, not fewer.
It should be noted that average home price data is not an apples-to-apples comparison from one town to the next, as many factors go into a real estate transaction, including house size, lot size, age of home, etc. Given all the factors, Great Barrington’s average home price stacks up very well against its neighbors. And it may well be that folks that purchase homes in Alford do so to avoid higher property taxes, but it costs them nearly twice as much for that privilege. And they must travel far to spend their time in Great Barrington, as they no doubt do on a daily or so basis. As the population data reflects, this is not a trade most people are willing to make.
Last, it is quizzical that Mr. Orenstein is against an affordable housing transfer fee that is intended to support and fund, in part, the Community Development Corporation of South Berkshire (CDCSB). Puzzling, that is, because Mr. Orenstein is a member and treasurer of the board of the CDCSB. Mr. Orenstein knows, as we all know, that the mission of the CDCSB is to enhance affordable housing in Great Barrington and its neighboring communities. It may well be that Mr. Orenstein feels that his position as chairperson of the Great Barrington Finance Committee takes precedence over his fiduciary position as treasurer of the CDCSB Board. Fair to say, the next CDCSB board meeting should be fun.
Peter J. Most
Great Barrington
