 |
8757 Georgia Avenue, Suite 600 Silver Spring, MD 20910 Phone: 301.590.2000 Fax: 301.590.2248 www.gcaar.com |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 17, 2004
Contact: Amy Ritsko-Warren, Director of Communications
301.590.8764
awarren@gcaar.com
DC Council Chairwoman Linda Cropp declared the District of Columbia "Hot! Hot! Hot!" at the 2004 GCAAR DC Legislative Conference held Monday, June 14, 2004 at the Hotel Washington in Washington, DC.
Cropp told REALTORS® that the District has turned around from the days of the Control Board, evidenced by the significant investment homebuyers are making in the city.
Referring to the "old days of mismanagement" aggravated by the District's still unresolved structural imbalance vis-ā-vis the federal government, Cropp cited the District's consistently improving bond rating in an environment in which other states are facing severe deficits.
The Council Chair also discussed the serious impact of September 11, 2001 on the District's tax revenues and increased costs of security, but announced that the District had fully recovered, with tourism, hotel occupancy and convention center bookings maximized.
Chairman Cropp raised the issue of the District's real estate transfer and recordation taxes, which were temporarily raised in late fall of 2002 to address a budget shortfall.
"We ought to use stable revenues for funding ongoing operations of government, not transfer and recordation taxes," she told those attending the conference.
While the DC Council managed to eliminate $27 million in proposed fee and tax increases in the 2005 budget, action to roll back transfer and recordation taxes was not included in the first reading of the District's Budget Support Act. To an enthusiastic round of applause Chairman Cropp promised the group that, with revenues far beyond the CFO's wildest projections, she would take the lead in amending the budget bill to bring those taxes back from 1.5% to 1.1% as promised in late 2002.
Later, at the conference luncheon, Councilmembers Harold Brazil, Sandy Allen and Adrian Fenty and many DC Council staff heard REALTORS® discuss issues facing them. Brazil, Allen and Fenty echoed Cropp's commitment to repealing the transfer and recordation tax rate.
A vote is expected by the council's June 29 legislative meeting.
Jim Freeman, National Association of REALTORS®' legislative staff, also spoke at the event about federal issues and about REALTORS®' grassroots political power.
GCAAR is the voice for REALTORS® in Washington, DC and Montgomery County, Maryland. Representing more than 9,000 real estate professionals in the greater capital area, GCAAR provides numerous services vital to its members' daily business needs and works with lawmakers to ensure public policy that encourages home ownership.
