Sign In
Upcoming Event
Free Newsletter
I’ve got a feeling…
//March 1, 2012
For some, the way a bill makes you feel is as important as its direct monetary impact.
A provision in Gov. Martin O’Malley’s budget proposal calls for a cap on itemized tax deductions for homeowners making over $100,000 a year. According to an O’Malley spokeswoman, the provision impacts only 20 percent of Marylanders.
But you can throw that percentage out the window, the CEO of the Maryland Association of Realtors said in a joint hearing with the House Appropriations and Ways and Means Committee.
It’s how the tax increase makes each consumer feel that creates impact on the housing market.
“This is a market of psychology,” Mary C. Antoun said. “That [capping deductions] definitely affects consumer psychology.”
To be fair, Antoun also said that there was a trickle-down effect created when those wealthier homeowners see taxes go up.
“Your house is less valuable and it goes all the way down,” Antoun said.
It seems that members of the state Senate and House of Delegates are feeling Antoun’s point: for the second consecutive day, Antoun and her fellow real estate agents left a committee hearing with indications that lawmakers were on their side.
s
