BY DANIEL GOLDBERG : The Herald-Sun
dgoldberg@heraldsun.com
Dec 25, 2008
HILLSBOROUGH -- In the end, the decision about whether Orange County should adopt a 0.4-percent land transfer tax was a blowout.
Voters stomped the measure in a May referendum, with 66 percent of those casting ballots siding against a tax that would be paid by property owners selling a home, commercial property or vacant land.
"I think we are already paying enough in taxes," said voter David Fraley on the day of the primary. "Most people are already having a difficult time paying the bills as it is."
It seems like the transfer tax was easily brushed aside, but for months before the May referendum the measure aroused passionate arguments from supporters and opponents. An army of campaign signs dotted yards and roads. Partisans made their case before elected boards. Web sites sprang up and letters rolled into newspapers.
According to Orange Citizens for Schools and Parks, those facilities are in dire need of capital funding. The grassroots group favored the transfer tax over other revenue options because, they argued, it would allow property owners to enjoy increases in the value of their homes and businesses without paying additional yearly property taxes.
Anti-tax opponents struck back hard, labeling the fee a "home tax," and casting it as measure that would dig into the savings of young families, those on a fixed income and seniors. Ultimately, anti-tax groups like Citizens for a Better Orange County garnered the most political clout. That attracted big-money donations from the Greensboro-based N.C. Association of Realtors, Durham Regional Association of Realtors, the Triangle MLS and the Washington-based National Association of Homebuilders.
Citizens for a Better Orange County spent more than $156,000 on its cause through the April 19 campaign finance reporting period. Citizens for Schools and Parks couldn't compete, spending about $840 during the same period.
The county commissioners had the option of bringing the land transfer tax referendum back for the Nov. 4 General Election or substituting a quarter-cent sales tax increase. They chose to do neither.
© 2009 by The Durham Herald Company. All rights reserved.