Push begins for land-transfer tax

This is a corrected version of the story. Because of incorrect information from the source, the original incorrectly reported the date of an information session planned Oct. 3 at the Boiling Spring Lakes Community Center.

Bolivia | With a press conference Monday, Brunswick County commissioners and staffers began what will be a month and a half of educational presentations addressing common questions and concerns about the land-transfer tax referendum that will appear on election ballots Nov. 6.

The County Land Transfer Tax Act, passed this year in the state legislature, lets county governments hold a referendum giving voters the opportunity to vote for or against a levy of up to 0.4 percent on transfers of real-estate property.

The tax act also allows county governments to hold a referendum on increasing the sales tax, but Brunswick County officials did not place that option on the election ballot.

While it is known that the county commissioners personally support a land-transfer tax and they can individually lobby for it, federal and state laws prohibit the board from advocating for or against issues in such referendums.

Instead of having public meetings before Election Day, a committee of commissioners, county staff and others will present information about the land-transfer tax to private civic groups, churches and other organizations.

County residents will also see anti-tax campaigns by organizations such as the Brunswick County Association of Realtors.

Steve Candler, governmental affairs director for the organization, said representatives from the Association of Realtors will be present at two educational meetings sponsored by the Committee for Concerned Brunswick County Property Owners.

The first will be at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 3 at the Boiling Spring Lakes Community Center, and the second will be at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 29 at the Progress Energy Media Center in Southport.

While the Board of Realtors opposes the land-transfer tax, Candler said the organization wants to inform voters about the tax, not just persuade them to vote against it.

"We need to find out what the general public thinks," he said. "The message has to be educational. It doesn't have to be dictatorial."

At Monday's meeting, which was attended by about 30 residents, county staff and officials, municipal officials, County Manager Marty Lawing, County Finance Director Ann Hardy and news reporters offered questions and answers about the land-transfer tax. Here are some of them.

Q: Why is Brunswick County pursuing the land-transfer tax option and not the one-quarter-cent local-option sales tax?

A: Only one of the optional taxes can be levied, and the land-transfer tax would generate more revenue than the sales tax. The land-transfer tax should raise more than $8 million each year, and the sales tax increase would generate less than half that amount.

Q: How will the money be used?

A: The Brunswick County Board of Commissioners adopted a resolution restricting the tax revenue to be used for road and school construction and improvements.

Q: Will my property tax bill be lower if the land-transfer tax is approved?

A: The land-transfer tax would give county governments an alternate source of revenue to address infrastructure needs. A portion of the land-transfer tax revenue would be used to supplement the costs of future school construction projects and could reduce the burden on the property tax rate in the future.

Shannan Bowen: 755-6307

shannan.bowen@starnewsonline.com