County OKs request to hike mortgage filing tax
CANTON — Closing on a home purchase in St. Lawrence County could get more expensive next year.
The Legislature voted unanimously Monday to ask state lawmakers' permission to raise the county's mortgage recording tax from 0.75 percent to 1.25 percent. The tax is levied against the value of a mortgage filed with the county clerk's office as part of a home purchase's closing process.
The mortgage tax hike was included in the draft 2010 budget to raise revenue as officials struggled to fill a $10 million gap in the $222 million spending plan.
"We estimate it would annually raise about $1 million based on the business we've done the last three years," County Administrator Karen M. St. Hilaire said.
County Clerk Patricia A. Ritchie said the current tax rate amounts to a $750 fee to file a $100,000 mortgage. Raising it to 1.25 percent brings that cost up to $1,250, she said.
"I, like many other people, don't support raising any taxes and fees if possible. I also understand that the board is in a bad situation, and they need to find some way to balance the budget," Mrs. Ritchie said. "It's up to the Legislature if they decide to raise the mortgage tax, but I can't personally support it. Everybody is kind of at the end of what they can afford these days."
The state receives 0.25 percent of the total in mortgage tax collected in a year, and the county keeps $109,229 annually to cover office expenses, Mrs. Ritchie said. She said the rest is split among towns and villages.
"The extra half a percent they propose to levy would go directly to the county's general fund," she said. "I think it could generate more than a million dollars a year. A few years ago it would have been more, but now mortgage filings are stable and we don't have as many as we've seen in previous years."
Jefferson County legislators this week abandoned a proposal to add a 0.25 percent county mortgage tax, which would have brought the county $500,000 if enacted by the state Legislature by July, as anticipated.
