The Little Compton Budget Committee is recommending Financial Town Meeting approval of a plan that would change the town's tax structure, and how the Agricultural Conservancy Trust is funded.

Currently, buyers who purchase property in Little Compton pay a four percent transfer tax on sale amounts that exceed $300,000. If approved, that exemption would increase to $450,000.

The transfer tax helps support the Ag Trust’s mission of buying and purchasing land for agricultural and recreational use.

In its letter to voters, the committee outlined the Ag Trust’s request to increase the exemption, effective July 1, and its response — that the tax contributes to the town’s lack of affordable housing and the topic should be revisited during the next budget season.

“The opinion of the Budget Committee is that the transfer tax, at its current rate or the new rate being proposed, contributes to Little Compton being an unaffordable destination for families and funds the restriction of new housing supply.”

The committee’s narrative includes a reference to the town’s median home value, cited by the tax assessor, of close to $1.2 million.

During a recent hearing, budget committee member Corey Soderlund said the committee thoroughly researched the transfer tax and its impacts on the community, and its vote to recommend approval was done so very reluctantly.

“I think the feelings of the majority of the committee are that the transfer tax rate as it is set now is a deterrent to young families being able to afford to come and establish roots here.”

In response to an audience member who recommended that a sliding scale be set based on the home price, with a lower transfer tax assessed for less expensive houses, committee member Andy Rhyne said he’d welcome such a discussion, to be initiated by the town council in collaboration with the Ag Trust, with a goal of coming up with an appropriate proposal.

This might ensure that “homes that your average family would buy would be impacted less than somebody’s second home or investment property," he said.

Soderlund added that the committee’s intention was for the narrative to open the door to further discussion.

Audience member Jim Lock, CEO of The Commons Foundation of Little Compton, a non-profit focused in part on increasing home ownership for the working middle class and people born and raised in Little Compton, said it is possible for community members to work together to reduce the cost of land and to use intelligent ways to finance houses.

“There is no question that the Ag Trust has be a part of that, and exactly how that works is something we all need to think about. I’m glad the budget committee has started this conversation, but this is a complicated problem and anyone who thinks it is simple is making a mistake. But it is solvable.”