Another year has gone by for the Georgia State Legislature. It absolutely amazes me how much time they can spend accomplishing so little. First, they passed a seat belt law several years ago that excluded wearing them in pickups, making us the only state in the union with such a ridiculous law. Then they had to waste the limited time they had this year to correct what was obviously wrong with their previous work. But don't get me started. I believe that we are represented as well as could be expected by Tom Graves and Chip Pearson, and that's all we in Pickens County can do about it.
One very important piece of legislation that just fell off the news radar (don't get me started on the media either) is House Bill 261. It was fairly well publicized, then when the session ended I couldn't find out what happened in the outcome.
HB261 was originally proposed by our own Senator Chip Pearson to create a $3,600 tax credit for home buyers. That credit would have been spread out over three years, but would have been a shot of much needed adrenalin for our downtrodden real estate market and local economy. I found out what happened to it by calling the Board of Realtors® legislative liaison this morning. The good news is that both chambers of the house passed the bill by Conference Committee report, and it is now awaiting the Governor's action to either veto or sign it into law. The bad news is that the credit has been reduced to $1,800 and spread over three years, but it's still better than nothing. Originally it was calculated as 1.2% of the sale price with a $3,600 maximum credit, so I assume the same formula would be applied using a .6% factor.
It seems as though our politicians are stuck on the idea of throwing more and more money at trying to fix our struggling economy. Unfortunately, I can see nothing they are spending money on that will have any profound impact on Pickens County. HB 261 would be a vital first step in that direction. By stimulating potential home buyers to get off the fence and take advantage of the low interest rates and abundant inventory with great values available, we will reduce our inventory and create better demand for those wishing to sell. By reducing inventory, we will eventually get to the point where we need new construction, which will return that very important segment of our local economy to life.
Everyone who wants our local economy to get back to normal needs to contact Governor Perdue. By getting people back to work, we all benefit, so it's not just the responsibility of those buying and selling homes to let their voices be heard! It is absolutely critical that every person who reads this article send an email to Governor Perdue in favor of his support of this important legislation. You can do so by visiting http://www.capwiz.com/politicsol/mail/?id=2582&type=GV&state=GA and sending your message. It seems pretty obvious that Washington is set on spending money to fix everyone's problem except the ones faced by Pickens County, so let's fix our own problems!
Comments(0)