Realtors descend on the State House, urge lawmakers to change tax law (updated)

Update January 20:

It looks like the realtors have been heard and their hard work has paid off.

The state Senate is meeting today to approve a legislation that would temporarily eliminate point-of-sale reassessments of commercial property. The plan won't provide quite as much tax relief as The South Carolina Association of Realtors wanted, but is more than local governments wanted to see.

The Post and Courier has the story.

Hundreds of South Carolina real estate agents gathered at Columbia's State House on Wednesday to urge the Senate to fix a property tax reform bill that they feel unfairly taxes second home buyers and penalizes businesses attempting to enter the South Carolina market.

Leading the reform movement was Nick Kremydas, chief executive of the S.C. Realtors trade group. His message to his fellow realtors and lawmakers throughout the day was, "It's time we put a message out that South Carolina is open for business again."

No agreement was met yesterday, but both sides plan to meet Friday, and again next week to try to find a compromise.

The State has the story.