Revisions have been made, and now it is time for a state bill expanding the real estate transfer fee to get full support.

The bill, introduced last year by state Rep. Bill Herbkersman, R-Bluffton, addresses a vital community need, but the revisions were in order.

The bill would enable local governments to charge a slight fee when real estate changes hands, with the proceeds going to buy land. Under current state law, only the Town of Hilton Head Island can charge the fee. It is clearly needed by others.

The revisions show that Herbkersman and his supporters are listening to the people and the concerns of local professional organizations.

Now the bill would include Beaufort County along with the municipalities. That would enable the county to bolster its land-acquisition program that now is supported by a small portion of the local property tax and a $40 million bond referendum overwhelmingly approved by the public.

Revisions also spell out the amount of the fee and how it can be used. It can be no higher than 0.25 percent, and it must be used to buy or improve open space. It also takes the Beaufort County Legislative Delegation out of the approval process.

To add another layer of checks and balances, would further revise the bill to require voters to approve the fee in a referendum before a local government can adopt it. We think that representative government places that decision squarely on those elected to serve, and listen to, the voting public. But if the referendum provision helps get this bill passed, it is well worth the effort.

It further weakens the argument of the primary opponent of the bill, the S.C. Association of Realtors.

What the association refuses to accept is that the real estate transfer fee would only be imposed on communities that -- through the all-American democratic process -- choose to assess it.

Hilton Head has proved that in some communities the real estate transfer fee not only works, but also works well. The land-acquisition program on Hilton Head is widely thought to be the one of the greatest achievement sof the municipality.

Here, the local Realtors were given input on the fee from the beginning, and they support it because they see that a well-funded land-acquisition program can increase property values and improve the local quality of life that helps them sell homes.

It is an additional fee that homeowners have to bear, but it is a small fee. And its use is directly tied to community improvements that benefit the homeowner.

On Hilton Head, the program has made a number of community enhancements possible, including the Hilton Head Island Branch of the Beaufort County Library, The Crossings Park, the Chaplin Community Park, the Shelter Cove Community Park, the Volunteers in Medicine Clinic, secondary road improvements, fire stations, Lowcountry vistas, public beach access and green space.

Beyond that come the pluses gained by subtraction: The number of time shares, shopping centers and daily car trips that are eliminated when the public buys the land.

Bluffton, Beaufort, Beaufort County -- and actually every community in the state --deserve the option to weigh the pluses and minuses of the real estate transfer fee for themselves and their own communities and make a local decision. That's all Herbkersman's bill suggests. It deserves support.