Proposals to establish a transfer tax on real estate sales were shot down by voters in several North Carolina counties today.
Voters in Graham, Hoke, Gates, Washington, Davie and Union counties voted down the tax, according to unofficial totals.
Update: With 16 of 19 precincts reporting in Chatham County, 6,850 people voted against the transfer tax referendum and 3,133 voted for it, according to unofficial totals.
I've been thinking it through . . . and it goes like this.
1. Transfer taxes put at risk their 6% as owners decided to negotiate.
2. When transfer taxes are defeated, that leaves property taxes to carry the load.
3. Local governments have two ways of getting more revenue out of property taxes. They can increase the rate, which they hate to do, or they can do reset (raise) the actual value of the properties in their municipalities so they get more money without raising the rate. That's what happened in Chapel Hill recently. Homeowners saw the tax values of their homes increase, but not their tax rate.
4. When home prices go up, Realtor Ticks make more money. This is just another version of the shell game being played by the sub-prime industry recently wherein appraisers colluded with lenders to artificially inflate prices.
The development and real estate lobbies in North Carolina are pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into local elections with nothing but their own greed and self-interest in mind. I predict this will come back to haunt them in more ways than they can imagine.
of 25% of voters, based my quick guesstimates of turnout. Which would be about 18% of voters.
That said, your point is almost well taken. Because the fact is, there is no situation in which everyone pays for all the service that benefit entire communities.
I don't consider the risk of property tax increases to be any more of a "threat" than the risk of rising gas prices. Property taxes will either go up or communities will be faced with an inability to fund essential infrastructure, schools, etc., at their own peril. That's not a threat, it's a fact.
Leaseholders pay property taxes indirectly.
Just because a retailer remits sales tax receipts to the Department of Revenue doesn't mean he's the only one paying it.
That's going to be an interesting press conference because the NC Association of Realtors and NC Home Builders ARE the funders of 15 fake "grassroots" groups AND they have been supportive of raising sales tax instead of transfer tax.
Put in the perspective of other poll results it appears that North Carolina is cautious about rapid growth and would rather not pay for the infrastructure that supports it. The realtors and home builders especially may come to regret their "success" yesterday.
I thought you'd decided against letting the Puppetshow run its press releases for free on your blog.
North Carolina Association of Realtors and NC. Home Builders Along with Grassroots Groups To Call On County Commissioners Across The State To Abandon Tax Increase Efforts
Election results show massive opposition to higher taxes and more government spending
Taxpayer money should not be spent to put tax increases on ballot
What: Press Conference. After voters defeated the land transfer tax in 16 out of 16 counties, Americans for Prosperity, Freedomworks, The North Carolina Homebuilders Association, The North Carolina Association of Realtors, The Chatham Conservative Voice, The Wake County Taxpayers Association, The Durham Conservative Club, and other taxpayer/grassroots groups will call on county commissioners in all North Carolina counties to abandon efforts to put tax increases on the ballot for voter approval.
When: Wednesday November 7th 2007. 11:30 A.M
Where: 225 Hillsborough Street. Raleigh
Why: Local governments spent large amounts of taxpayer money to promote tax increases but they were still soundly defeated at the polls by voters. Taxpayers should be spared of further abuse of their tax dollars by having local governments abandon their efforts for more power and money. Local governments should learn to live with-in their means like taxpayers do.
A dramatic statement was made to elected officials across the state today. Manage the $ you have better before you single out a group of people to pay for services that benefit the entire community.
Don't make threats about increasing property taxes and how you don't have $ to pay for schools.
When you can demonstrate a sufficient need for increased revenue, come to the residents/voters with a proposal that makes sense, that is not a knee jerk bandaid and that impacts ALL county residents (including illegals and non property owners) as equally and fairly as humanly possible.
The transfer tax is not the answer and a resounding majority of residents in 16 counties said so. All 16 counties were above 60% Against with the exception of Gates which was 59%. Some counties (Graham, Harnett, Swain, Hoke) defeated the referendums by 85% or greater - with the Graham margin being 97%-3%.
I am sure someone will follow behind me on this thread to ridicule me for this post. That is fine, they are entitled to their opinion as am I. I happen to think they are wrong on this one and oh by the way, in case you missed the numbers above, so does an average of about 70% of NC voters...
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It cost them
By my quick calculations it cost the realtors and home builders between $6 and $9 per vote for the margins of victory. Plus they lost the sales tax they supported in those counties where both were on the ballot.