Skip to content
The Archive of The Carrboro Citizen
Menu
  • Home
  • News
  • Community
  • Schools
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Obituaries
  • Sports
  • Mill
  • Flora
  • Print Archive
  • About
Menu

FROM THE EDITOR: A tax for the future

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Susan Dickson

There’s been a lot of talk about the quarter-cent sales-tax referendum lately, and with that, promises of jobs and funding for schools.

Some hard-working residents of this county are skeptical about handing over more of their dollars to local government, and that’s understandable. With no sign of this economic downturn making a change in the right direction any time soon, budgets are increasingly stretched and taxpayers are wary of anything that might further tighten their belts.

But it’s important to remember where the roots of this referendum lie.

In the 2007 state budget, the legislature gave counties the option of a 0.4 percent land-transfer tax or a quarter-cent sales-tax increase to help compensate for money taken away from them in a deal to turn responsibility for paying for Medicaid over to the state. Out of that deal, counties lost state-supplied school-construction money that year and sales-tax revenue in subsequent years.

County leaders have proposed the quarter-cent sales-and-use tax – 0.25 cents on a $1 purchase, or 1 cent on $4 – that is projected to raise $2.5 million annually, and have pledged to devote 50 percent of funds raised from the tax to economic development and 50 percent to schools. The economic-development portion of the money would go to funding infrastructure improvements needed to recruit new businesses and expand existing ones; funding for business loans and grants to grow businesses in Orange County; targeted business recruitment, retention and expansion efforts; and community branding and marketing.

To be honest, while a little vague, that sounds pretty good.

The schools are the pride and joy of this county, and their capital needs – facilities improvements, new equipment, etc. – have fallen to the wayside as budgets have tightened. This money would help ensure that our kids can continue to attend schools that meet their needs and keep them safe.

And the economic-development districts of this county have been waiting more than 20 years to see any action. County leaders are poised to make some real moves toward building the infrastructure needed to draw in businesses to those districts that will create jobs and increase tax revenue, lessening the huge burden on property owners. Those new businesses could pay back the county’s initial investment and more, funding our schools and all those great things that make Orange County what it is well into the future.

Some will argue that any sales tax is regressive, and that’s true. But as the county’s budget is further gripped by this economic downturn – and the misguided Republican leadership in the General Assembly eliminates funding from safety-net programs and leaves our most vulnerable residents left to fend for themselves – our county truly needs the funding.

Moreover, as home to a major state university, this county has thousands of residents who don’t own property, and thus don’t share as much of the tax burden as their property-owning neighbors. In addition, alumni of that university and hundreds of thousands of other visitors – more than 1.7 million in 2010 – come to Orange County every year, injecting capital into our stores and restaurants (to the tune of $144 million last year), and thus into our county’s sales-tax funding. Let them share a little more of that burden too.

We’ve got some smart people at the helm of this county, and we’ve got to trust that our county government – which has worked hard to stave off property-tax increases the past three years running – would use these precious funds wisely.

Times are tough, and people are hurting. We trust that the county will use the funds to create jobs, keep our school systems some of the finest in the country and increase tax revenue from economic development, keeping Orange County the best it can be for years to come.

1 thought on “FROM THE EDITOR: A tax for the future”

  1. Bob Bali says:
    October 30, 2011 at 10:57 pm

    The 1/4 cent tax never stops. This will be on the ballot with socialist always wanting to do good with other people’s money. Yes, I know it is for the “kids” and the “most vulnerable.” Isn’t it always? This increase in local taxes will NEVER end.

    NC already ranks 19th out of 50. Want to be #1? Just keep raising your own taxes by 1/4 cent EVERY election. We are Taxed Enough Already.

Comments are closed.

Web Archive

© 2025 The Archive of The Carrboro Citizen | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme