RALEIGH - There's good news in Raleigh when it comes to revenue. Legislative leaders learned late Monday, the State of North Carolina had received nearly $260 million in surplus tax dollars during the April 17th annual tax deadline. "This is substantial news," said Tim Kent, executive vice president of the North Carolina Association of Realtors®, "it clearly shows the growth in our economy and our tax dollars."
Tax collectors cited strength in real estate and capital gains as a major component of the revenue bump, according to a report in The Associated Press.
Kent said the bright revenue picture validates the premise that North Carolina doesn't have a problem when it comes to revenue. "The NC Association of Realtors will continue to fight any effort to tax the equity in a person's home. It's a home tax and it's a bad idea," Kent said.
The NC Association of Realtors are continuing their campaign with a second major media push across the state beginning Wednesday with a full page ad in The News & Observer of Raleigh that reminds visiting County Commissioners from across the state that there is widespread opposition to that groups effort to increase the real estate transfer taxes.
"The County Commissioners are holding their legislative lobbying day on Wednesday and we wanted to remind them and the voters that taxing the equity in your home is like taxing the American Dream. It's a bad idea. We believe budgets are about setting priorities and the latest revenue reports show we don't have a revenue problem," Kent added.
"This is a line-in-the-sand issue for our association," Kent said. "We're going to fight this new tax plan in all 100 counties, with all our members and the nearly 12,000 grassroots supporters who have joined our efforts," Kent said.
"We want the people of North Carolina to know that there is a surplus in revenue in the state's treasury," Kent stated. "We believe that adding a new home tax when there is surplus revenue is a really bad idea and we're going to continue talking directly with the lawmakers and the voters about this issue."