Skeldon Wozniak

The Board of Lucas County Commissioners will hold the first of two hearings to weigh an increase in the conveyance fee imposed on home sales to fund the Lucas County Improvement Corporation (LCIC) at 2 p.m. Nov. 25 at One Government Center Downtown.

If approved, the measure would increase conveyance fees from $3 to $4 per thousand, with the extra $1 per thousand funding LCIC. The average home sale in Lucas County, estimated at $120,000, would cost the seller an additional $120 per transaction.

Commissioner Pete Gerken supports the proposal, saying the recommendations of a community task force mirror the efforts of nearby counties, including Wood County, in developing the economy. He said the funding is necessary to help the Toledo area compete with the national average of job creation, which he described locally as abysmal.

The proposal is one of several among the task force’s recommendations.

“It will be dedicated to economic development through the LCIC and it will help fund that government toolbox that works with businesses to create jobs,” Gerken added. “At the end of the day — and I learned this years ago — it’s not the government that creates the jobs, it’s the government that works in partnerships with businesses that create the jobs to provide the government tools that are necessary.”

In a statement, Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak  said, “In these very tough economic times, I do not take lightly any potential increase in fees.  I believe that the community deserves a dialogue on this important matter.  I have by no means made up my mind on this matter and I look forward to listening to all sides at our two public hearings.”

Lucas County Commissioner Ben Konop said the proposal adversely affects a segment of the economy already distressed by the Sept. 15 mortgage crisis. LCIC has not proven itself to be deserving of the funding, he added, because it has had “basically little or no results” and a “terrible accountability.”

Strenuously against it, Konop deemed that the measure doesn’t make sense at a lot of levels. Viable alternatives lie in the remaining recommendations by the task force, as well as “rolling LCIC into the port authority” and dismantling the LCIC executive board and replacing members with nonpoliticians as opposed to subjecting homebuyers and sellers to an additional tax.

“You’re going to raise taxes on the most suppressed part of our economy and then take that money and give it to an agency that is in need of dire reform and hasn’t done one thing yet to reform itself,” Konop said.

Konop scheduled a meeting Nov. 13 with local real estate agents and other professionals in the housing industry to discuss opposition.

He emphasized that he has only one vote against two county commissioners who, he said, have a pattern of voting in tandem. He expects to be outvoted again; nevertheless, he has taken a stance for what he feels is the good of the local economy.

“Not only do I think it’s a bad deal for everybody in Lucas County, but it really affects small-business people who are making a living on home sales and are really hurting right now to add another hundreds of dollars onto the purchase price of homes,” Konop said. “It’s going to make their job even tougher than it is now and it’s pretty darn tough right now, obviously, to sell houses in Lucas County.”

Gerken, on the other hand, blames the housing crisis on decisions made by the federal government. He credits input from industry leaders, including former president of Lathrop Robert Maxwell, The Andersons Dick Anderson and former UT professor of public policy and economic development Dan Johnson, for their recommendations, people who “understand the community and the business needs of the community as well as anybody.”

“It’s a bit of a stretch to say the conveyance fee would kill the real estate market in Toledo,” Gerken said. “It’s already been subjected to stress from subprime lenders. I didn’t hear a whole lot of clamor from Realtors about subprime loans when it was fueling loans. I’m going to listen to the public before I make the final decision, but I think I’m basing this on the reports that a group, the community task force, put together. This was a task force of people that I think understand business.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 13th, 2008 at 10:42 pm and is filed under Breaking News, Community.
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