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Transfer tax foes spend big

Posted on May 1, 2008 by Staff

by Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

Determined to keep their perfect score in defeating counties’ efforts to adopt a real estate transfer tax, the North Carolina real estate and construction interests, led by the North Carolina Association of Realtors and the North Carolina Homebuilders, have pumped more than $205,000 in cash and in-kind contributions into defeating the initiative in Orange County.

The figures, filed on Monday — the deadline for campaign finance reports for the first quarter and the final weeks leading up to the election — show that the state organizations that have helped organize and fund county-based groups to fight the tax represent the bulk of funding for Citizens for a Better Orange County, which was set up in February to fight the tax.

Other contributions to their effort came from Triangle MLS, which provided $25,000 and the Greater Chapel Hill Association of Realtors, which contributed $5,000.

The National Association of Home Builders provided a $24,885 in-kind contribution in the form of a television ad.

The finance report shows that Citizens for a Better Orange County has thus far spent close to $84,000 for direct mail and more than $38,000 in newspaper ads against the referendum.

By contrast, a hastily organized pro-transfer tax group called Orange Citizens for Schools and Parks took in $1,763 and spent $1,349, mostly for postcards, signs and stickers.

An official county effort, which by law cannot advocate for voters to approve or disapprove the referendum, is not required to file a campaign finance report. The county approved up to $100,000 for the education effort, but it is not known at this point how much of that amount has been spent.

The transfer tax, set at 0.4 percent, was an option given to counties in last year’s state budget to replace a net loss in state funds and sales taxes the General Assembly shifted back to the counties as part of a revision in Medicaid funding.

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