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11 <br />C <br />0 <br />NCACC <br />Alexander voters OK quarter-cent sales tax <br />Page I of 1 <br />Alexander became the sixth county to gain voter approval to levy a new quarter-cent <br />sales tax option during a special county election Jan. 8. The tax will take effect April 1. <br />Voters gave the referendum a resounding win, with 1,790 votes for and 352 votes <br />against. Commissioners have pledged the estimated $450,000 in revenue to go <br />toward a new or expanded county jail. <br />Voters in Catawba, Martin, Pitt, Sampson and Surry counties passed local-option <br />sales tax referendums in November 2007. All told, 11 counties pursued the sales tax <br />option in November. Ten counties exclusively pursued the land transfer tax option but <br />none were successful. Five counties put both options on the ballot, and voters rejected <br />both in all five counties. <br />The General Assembly during its 2007 session granted counties the authority to hold <br />public referendums on the quarter-cent sales tax or 0.4 percent land transfer tax to <br />help them deal with future needs caused by our state's rapid population growth and as <br />a way to relieve pressure on the property tax. A county can only enact one option, and <br />whichever option a county chooses must first be approved by the public via a <br />referendum. <br />As of early January, 14 additional counties had announced plans to pursue one or <br />both of the revenue options this year. In May, Caswell, Duplin, Edgecombe, Lincoln, <br />Nash, Onslow and Wilson will seek the sales tax, Gates and Pamlico will pursue the <br />land transfer tax, and Lee will place both options before voters. Orange will place one <br />of the two options on the ballot. In November, Burke and Wilkes will seek the sales <br />tax, and Polk will try for the land transfer tax. <br />Burke and Wilson were the latest additions to the list, as both announced plans in <br />January. Burke commissioners said if the measure passes, they would use the <br />estimated $1 million in revenue to extend water lines throughout the county. <br />}~tfn•//unini, nrarn nrrt /alav anllnr_ct 0109 I,f-l <br />/I unnno <br />NCACC <br />P.O. Box 1488 <br />Raleigh, NC 27602-1488 <br />Tel: (919) 715-2893 <br />Fax: (919) 733-1065 <br />E-mail: <br />ncacc@ncacc.org <br />