State Rep wants to ‘Build PA’

State Representative John Bear (R-Lancaster) is proposing legislation to create the “Build Pennsylvania” program to provide rebates up to $10,000 to new homebuyers. The total cost of the program is proposed at $100 million.

The legislation, which was developed by the Pennsylvania Builders Association and has undergone several revisions to date, is based on existing California and Utah laws. The rebate would apply to new construction, structural changes to an existing residence, and resales.

Rep. John Bear (R-Lancaster)

If enacted, the program would apply for one year, and would be run through the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency.

Limits would be as follows:

• New construction
  * $10,000 per primary resident or 5% of purchase price
• Structural change to primary residence (renovations)
  * $5,000 or 5% of construction costs
  * A home improvement that costs $50,000 or more and adds additional square footage (vertically or horizontally) to an existing private residence
• Resale of an existing residence
  * $2,500 per residence sold

Rep. Bear is seeking funding for the program through either the Federal stimulus money or by developing a tax amnesty bill.

Related posts:

1. Several real estate issues to come before state legislature
2. REALTORS® voice opposition to proposed state sales tax on services

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Tags: homebuyers, rebates

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 4th, 2009 at 9:50 am and is filed under Government Affairs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.