Governor Christie wants to Eliminate the Real Estate Transfer Tax

Gov. Chris Christie today said he would abolish realty transfer fees in New Jersey — a large source of tax revenue — if state lawmakers sent him such a bill.

"A realty transfer fee? From my perspective, it makes no sense," the Republican governor said at a town hall meeting in the Somerset section of Franklin Township. "It's awful. It should be done away with."

The fees — which the state assess to homeowners after they sell their house — are the seventh-largest source of tax revenue for the state.

New Jersey officials have projected that they will produce $287 million in the current state budget and $325 million in next year's spending plan.

But Christie said he's heard complaints about them twice in the last five days. The first came from a fellow parent at one of his son's baseball games.

The second came at today's town hall at the Somerset National Guard Armory, where a retired state trooper said he recently sold his home because taxes in the state are "out of control." The man said after the sale he was slapped with a $5,435 realty transfer fee.Christie blamed the fee on former Gov. Jim McGreevey, a Democrat, and the state Legislature that served under him.

"People are leaving, and then the great gift that Gov. McGreevey and the state Legislature gave (them) was, 'Oh yeah, you’re going to leave us? We'll take 5,400 bucks from you on the way out the door. Thank you very much,'" Christie said. "It makes no sense."But Christie did not say how he'd make up the revenue from the fees if the lawmakers actually did pass a bill eliminating them.

Information Provided by:
Donna Antonucci
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Weichert Realtors

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