taxes

Increase County sales tax?

Ruby Sinreich — Fri, 28 May 2010 16:21:38 -0500

Orange County is well known as a place that values education and put our money where our mouth is. The County Commissioners have worked hard this year to hold the line on taxes and pending, but progress demands, well, progress. Advocates for the schools are clearly in support of a tax increase.

So having tried to pass a real estate transfer tax, and in the face of a slightly-more-rabid-than usual anti-tax crowd, the Commissioners are now considering a sales tax.

The Library Is More Than Books

rectormsw — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 08:48:54 -0600

I have reviewed a lot of letters sent to the Chapel Hill Town Council about whether or not the Town should move forward on expansion of our Library. Letters fall on either side of the issue, but in letters against expansion, I see a theme. Writers often want it known that they are a fan of books, but they don't want to pay more taxes toward making more available to Library users.

Would You Contribute To The Library?

George C — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:03:23 -0600

At last night's Chapel Hill Town Council meeting a decision was put off regarding the Town Manager's recommendation to move forward and issue the voter-approved bond for the Library expansion. There were two major issues. First, the anticipated operating expenses for the expanded Library would result in a tax rate increase of $0.0113. This would add about $34 to the tax bill of a homeowner with an appraised house value of $300,000. Second, several Council members were concerned about moving forward until Orange County commits to a more equitable funding of the Library since 40% of the users and 40% of the circulation is by Orange County, non-CH residents.

What undesirable items or activities should we tax?

Mark Marcoplos — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:26:49 -0600

Local governments need money. Meanwhile items are sold locally that are a burden on the public and cost citizens money. Likewise for bad practices. One solution to balance these things out is to tax the undesirable activities and products, both to discourage them and to provide funds to help offset their costs to the community.

Rural Orange: Talking Trash Survey

Mike Swaim — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 20:48:10 -0500

Haven't seen much buzz on this topic, and don't know who's behind Orange County Voice, but there's a group in rural Orange passing out information that Orange county is considering what could be some pretty radical changes in the way trash is handled for non-incorporated residents. If this is true, rural residents really need to voice their opinions and concerns.

What Would You Be Willing To Do Without?

George C — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:28:11 -0500

One of the recent threads raised the issue of the unsustainable increases in taxes that Chapel Hill citizens are faced with. I'd be interested in knowing what services/benefits citizens (this includes Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Orange County) would be willing do do without in order to minimize tax increases or to even decrease taxes. Would you be willing to have trash picked up every two weeks instead of weekly? Would you be willing to have recycling every other week as well? What about schools? Would you be willing to have larger class sizes and/or fewer teachers? How about fire/police protection? Would you be willing to have fewer police and fire persons or to have fewer stations and longer response times?

Ready for a county income tax?

Kirk Ross — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 11:35:51 -0500

I've been writing about local government funding and the relationship of the state to the locals for a couple of decades now. Given that we saw a serious 'no' vote on the real estate transfer tax and are in the midst of another discussion over property taxes, I thought I'd get another revenue source that's not talked about all that much on the table.

Check Yes to Elect Democrats!

jgmorton — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 11:30:03 -0600

Do you want to help ensure Democrats win in 2010?

What if one step was so simple it only required you to place a check mark on a form you already have to fill out?

This year, when you file your taxes, be sure to check off the Democratic Party under NC Political Parties Financing Fund.

Doing so won't cost you one extra penny on your tax return or reduce your refund, and you'll be helping to guarantee that Democrats across the state have the necessary funding to compete in 2010.

It's that simple.

Additionally, you can also support public financing of campaigns by supporting the Public Campaign Fund.

This Fund pays for a useful Voter Guide sent to all homes and helps candidates in NC's top courts who accept spending limits and refuse big campaign donations.

Niether of the options affects your tax bill or refund in any way.

Tax Revolt?

Jason Baker — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:18:19 -0600

I ran across the yard sign pictured at left quite a few times as I was driving through central Orange County today, particularly plastered along the strip-mall section of Hillsborough along Churton St between the two interstates. Something tells me these folks aren't interested in "revolting" by lobbying their state representatives to allow us to utilize alternative revenue options. Does anyone have any insight about the story behind the signs? Is this a grassroots effort or is there an existing anti-tax group sponsoring this?

Homestead Park is padlocked

Pilgrim — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 18:31:39 -0600

Homestead Park is in the news, especially since the new Aquatic Center opened to the public. However, what people may not know, and it is certainly newsworthy, is that other facilities in Homestead Park are firmly padlocked, and the public do not have access. Namely, the football fields (of which there are two), and the baseball fields (of which there are also two). "It must be maintenance", I hear you say -- but no. There are two of each kind of facility, so while one is padlocked for maintenance, the other could be available. No again -- they are ALL padlocked. I am sure this is not what people had in mind when the funds were approved for this important development. Nowadays it is quite common to see parents hoisting their children over the five-foot fences so they can have a game. When questioned about this, a representative from the Parks Dept responded, "... the fewer people we allow on the turf, the less work we have to do".