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The Oregon State Legislature has been in session only a few weeks, and already legislators seem to be falling all over themselves to create new laws. House and Senate members opened their traditionally bi-annual session Jan. 12. As of the end of January, the 90 members together had proposed more than 1,000 new laws, many of them raising taxes. Proposals range from the seemingly routine to the patently absurd; though, I suppose, absurdity is in the eye of the proposer. The Senate Committee on Finance and Revenue, chaired by Democrat Ginny Burdick of southwest Portland, crafted Senate Bill 396. The bill asks legislators to repeal the state’s ban on locally imposed real estate transfer taxes. If legislators vote in favor of the bill, it would allow cities and counties to impose new taxes on the sale of homes and other real property. Other notable measures include: Senate Bill 102, which requires home owners to remove and destroy woodstoves, pellet stoves, and even chimneys, when the owners sell their homes, unless the devices meet newer, more-stringent air-quality standards. Senate Bill 202 re-defines when specialty contractors, like plumbers and electricians, must get a general contractor’s license. House Bill 2071 allows county assessors to supplement revenues by removing a statewide cap on fees that counties charge to record copies of documents like real estate deeds and divorce decrees. House Bill 2436 increases county recording fees and directs the new money to be spent on housing programs for low-income people and minorities. |
| Craig Loughridge has been an Oregon-licensed real estate practitioner and consultant since 1999. He has represented buyers, sellers and investors in a variety of transactions involving many millions of dollars worth of residential and agricultural real estate. He is a graduate of the Oregon Realtor® Institute, and a member of the elite Real Estate Buyer's Agent Council. He can be reached at 503-632-8258. |  |
