by DAVID INGRAM
The real estate industry spent hundreds of thousands of dollars last year to oppose a proposed tax on the sale of property, what it called the "home tax." As it turns out, the industry had been saving up money for the expected battle for at least a decade.
"Our organization had the foresight years ago," said Mike Carpenter, executive vice president of the N.C. Home Builders Association. The real estate industry knew, he said, that when the time came to vote on such a tax "we didn't have the time to raise the money we would have needed."
In a candid discussion Friday, Carpenter and Tim Kent, executive vice president of the N.C. Association of Realtors, discussed how a coalition of interests turned public sentiment against the idea. The keys, they said, were the money they saved up, the consultants they hired and a message they developed that resonated with would-be taxpayers.
The debate focused attention on the best way to pay for new schools, roads and other costs associated with the state's rapid growth. (Link to Charlotte.com news article)