Gov. Christie: Scrap Realty Transfer Fees
SOMERSET, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says he would do away with realty transfer fees — a major source of tax revenues — if the Legislature sent him a bill.
Christie told a town hall crowd in Somerset Tuesday the fee the state assesses to homeowners after they sell a house is "awful" and should be scrapped.
He was responding to a question by a retired state trooper who said he owed $5,400 after selling a home.
The state has projected realty transfer fees to produce $287 million in the current budget and $325 million in next year's budget.
Realty transfer fees are the seventh largest source of tax revenue, but a small portion of the proposed $34.4 billion budget.
Christie did not say how the revenue would be made up.
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