|
Volume
2, Issue 01: January 16, 2009
145
General Assembly Convenes:
Committee
Chairs Announced: In
the House, the chairs of some of the key Committees that DAR
watches include: Dennis P. Williams - Joint Finance Committee;
Helene Keeley - Capital Infrastructure; Energy - John Kowalko;
Natural Resources - Michael Mulrooney; Agriculture - Bob
Walls; Education - Theresa Schooley; Economic Development,
Banking and Insurance - Bryon Short; Housing and Community
Affairs - Gerald Brady; Revenue and Finance - John Viola;
Transportation, Land Use and Infrastructure - Bill Carson;
Manufactured Housing - Longhurst. In the Senate, Senator
Cook and Senator Venables will continue to chair the financial
committees, Joint Finance and Bond Bill, respectively.
New Senator Bethany Hall-Long will Chair the Community/County
Committee, Senator McBride will continue to Chair the Natural
Resources and Environmental Control Committee, Senator Karen
Peterson is new to Chair the Highways and Transportation
Committee and Senator Patricia Blevins is the new Chair of the
Revenue and Taxation Committee. Insurance and Labor
Relations have merged and will be chaired by Senator Robert
Marshall.
Minner
Budget Released: Governor
Minner released her FY 2010 Budget, $366.8 million short of
needed cuts to make up for the revenue shortfall, leaving the
General Assembly and Governor-Elect Markell the painful
job of finding the remaining cuts. Governor
Minner's budget contained no tax increases, but many
agree that the budget cannot be balanced on cuts
alone.
IMPORTANT
CALL TO ACTION:
Legislation has been introduced that will allow the state
to get involved in local land use decisions. For the
past several years, New Castle County has worked on a
workforce housing ordinance which was finalized last
February. The ordinance became a bit controversial this
fall and County Council currently has a moratorium on the
ordinance to make some changes. Representatives Jacques,
Longhurst, Q. Johnson, Cathcart and Senators Ennis
and Hall-Long have introduced HB 29 which will not only
put a six month stay on New Castle County's workforce housing
ordinance, it will also stop any regulation or provision
thereof which grants residential density bonuses, site
development incentives, expedited reviews, fee waivers or
other incentives to workforce development project
developers. This is not just a New Castle County
issue. If this is allowed to happen here, it can happen
anywhere anytime. HB 29 was referred to the House
Housing and Community Affairs Committee.
DAR
expects the legislation to come before Committee next
Wednesday
and will be there to testify. We
encourage those in the following Committee member's
districts to call and express your
opposition.
Committee members include: Chairman Gerald Brady, Vice
Chair E. Bradford Bennett, Gerald Hocker, Deborah Hudson,
Gregory Lavelle, Hazel Plant, Michael Ramone, Bryon Short and
John Viola.
Issues
to Watch: In
addition to watching implications associated with balancing
the budget; DAR expects to see action on legislation from last
year pertaining to reassessment, legislation to prohibit deed
restrictions from banning or limiting the use of solar
systems, legislation on eminent domain and legislation to
amend the Delaware Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act.
Reassessment:
Pursuant to House Joint Resolution 22, a report was sent to
the General Assembly this past November making recommendations
to provide a mechanism for a fair and equitable reassessment
of all real property within the State. DAR met with the
Committee preparing the report to offer its expertise in
this area. The final report recommends creation of a
State Board to manage and oversee initial implementation,
issuing a single request for proposal (RFP) to design a system
that would be used statewide by all jurisdictions. All
properties would be assessed at 100% of market value with
annual revaluations. Commercial properties would be
valued according to methodology recommended by the Uniform
Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice
(USPAP). DAR will be watching this issue closely
to ensure that reassessment treats all property owners fairly,
contains a reasonable appeals process, is revenue neutral the
first year the reassessment is booked and the treatment of
non-residential property is based on USPAP. Finally, DAR
believes that municipal and county tax assessors should be
licensed and certified according to appraisal regulatory
statutes.
Deed
Restrictions/Solar:
While DAR supports the use of alternative energy sources, DAR
has expressed opposition to government efforts to override
private deed restrictions. DAR is working with Senator
McBride and DNREC to find ways to remove impediments to
those interested in using roof-top solar systems.
Eminent
Domain:
Last session Senator Venables' legislation to prohibit the
taking of private property for economic development purposes
was vetoed by the Governor and the Senate failed to override
the veto. While DAR applauds the Senator's efforts, we
advocate for a more comprehensive approach that clarifies
the definition of blight, requires that a more
substantial procedural process is followed in order
to use eminent domain as a tool of last resort and ensures
just compensation. DAR met with Senator Venables over
the winter break to discuss our legislation. Senator
Venables introduced SB 7 yesterday which was referred to the
Senate Small Business Committee.
Delaware
Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act:
To the surprise of many, the 144th General Assembly passed on
the last day of session and Governor Minner signed on October
31, 2008, legislation establishing the Delaware Uniform Common
Interest Ownership Act. While an update of the Unit
Property Act was necessary, the legislation was rushed through
and has a series of problems which DAR and others will be
bringing to the attention of the General Assembly. DAR
anticipates two technical amendments, the first will include
postponing the effective date of the legislation to June 30,
2009. The second amendment is expected to be more
comprehensive. While the Bar Association is looking at
the law in great detail, at this point, the issues which have
surfaced that may be addressed include: exclusion
of homeowners' associations; exemption of small
condo associations, and establishing a cap
on fees for the documents necessary to comply with the
act. If you have had experiences with the new law and
feel there are other issues which should be addressed in
legislation, please contact Charlotte Herbert at charlotte@delawarerealtor.com or
734-4444.
HB
30, Impact Fees:
Representative Jacques, Longhurst, Q. Johnson and Senators
Ennis and Hall-Long have introduced HB 30 which increases the
Voluntary School Assessment fee paid by developers to more
accurately reflect current school construction costs.
The legislation also raises the cap on the Voluntary School
Assessment to 6 percent of the total cost of a residential
unit.
Joint
Finance Committee Releases Public Hearing
Schedule:
The Joint Finance Committee will begin hearing from agencies
on their budget needs beginning with orientation on February
2nd. Agencies of interest to DAR include Delaware
Technical and Community College on February 5th, Housing on
February 12th, Transportation on February 17th, Public
Education on February 18th, Natural Resources on February 19th
and DEDO on February 26th. For more information, please
contact Charlotte Herbert at DAR at charlotte@delawarerealtor.com
or at 302-734-4444.
Clean
Water Advisory Council (CWAC): The
CWAC will meet on January 21st to discuss proposed uses for
non-federal administrative funds, wastewater planning grant
request and an emergency project request from the City of
Newark. For more information, call
302-739-9941.
DNREC
Workshop on On-Site Wastewater Treatment and Disposal System
Regulations:
DNREC will hold two public workshops on proposed amendments to
the Regulations Governing the Design, Installation and
Operation of On-Site Wastewater Treatment and Disposal
Systems. The workshops will be held on February 3rd in
Dover and February 12th in Georgetown. For more
information contact Jack Hayes of DNREC's Groundwater
Discharge Section at 739-9327.
Landowner
Workshops:
The Delaware Chapter of the Nature Conservancy is offering two
public workshops for landowners and others who want to learn
more about conservation easements, tax incentives and other
strategies that can protect land for future generations.
The workshops will be held on February 19th south of Dover and
February 24th west of Georgetown. For more information,
please call the Nature Conservancy at
302-584-2170.
COME
LEARN AND PLAY!:
Join your fellow REALTORS®
for an afternoon learning about the new condo law and what to
expect with the technical amendments, then have a little food
and spirit and watch a few of us JUMP IN THE OCEAN. Mark your
calendar now for March 6th and look for more information
soon!.
Federal
News: In case you missed it!
*NAR
President Testifies in Support of TARP Reform and
Accountability Act fo 2009: NAR
supports several provisions of the legislation as a good first
step in getting the economy moving. These provisions
include foreclosure relief, improving the Hope for Homeowners
Plan and expanding TARP to support commercial real estate
loans and mortgage backed securities. For more information,
please contact Tony Hutchinson with NAR at
202-383-1120.
*Senators
Discuss Home Buyer Tax Credit Changes:
Senator
Kent
Conrad, a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee and
Chair of the Senate Budget Committee, has made public
statement urging the incoming Obama administration to
strengthen the first-time home buyer tax credit as part of the
economic stimulus package. NAR supports
eliminating the first time home buyer tax credit repayment
feature, credit should be made available to all purchasers and
the expiration should be extended to December 31, 2009.
For more information, please contact Linda Goold with NAR at
202-383-1083.
*State
Certification for FHA Appraisers Required by October
2009:
Beginning October 1, 2009, all Federal Housing Administration
(FHA) Appraiser Roster Appraisers must be state certified to
conduct appraisals for FHA-insured mortgages and to remain on
the FHA Appraiser Roster. For more information, please
contact Jerome Nagy with NAR at
202-383-1233.
| 
