Great Barrington — The Selectboard has scheduled a public input session on a proposed real estate transfer fee for Tuesday, August 29 at 6 p.m. at Town Hall.
The session will be a public discussion on the proposed fee made by Selectboard Vice Chair Leigh Davis, who is also the chair of the Selectboard and Planning Board Housing Subcommittee. Davis has advocated for the fee during several meetings this year and said that the idea came from discussions with members of the subcommittee.
At the Selectboard meeting on August 7, Davis explained that the fee would raise funds to support affordable and workforce housing by collecting transfer fees from all real estate sales exceeding $1 million, with the fees deposited into the town’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund. This would include transfers of land, residential, commercial, and industrial properties. However, transfers between family members and transfers for affordable and workforce housing purposes would be exempt.
Also at the August 7 Selectboard meeting, Davis presented research from the Assessor’s Office with data from Fiscal 2022 real estate transfers. According to Davis, of the 148 real estate transfers made during Fiscal 2022, 14 transfers were properties that were sold above $1 million. Totaled altogether, the 14 transfers equaled $20,924,000. Davis said that if the one percent fee was in effect, the town would have raised $209,240 for its Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
Read more about the proposed real estate transfer fee:
- August 15 — “Great Barrington Selectboard discusses real estate issues, including possible transfer fee and issues with short-term rental database“
- July 28 — “Town officials further discuss potential real estate transfer fee“
- July 13 — “Selectboard considers real estate transfer fee to support affordable, workforce housing“
- February 26 — “Great Barrington examines programs to help with affordable housing“
