INC NEWS - Act Now For NC's Future -- support the transfer fee or impact

[TheOcean1 at aol.com]

Chris
 
 Not sure why my responses need to wait for moderator approval while  all 
others are going through.
Thanks for replying so that it could be seen in a more timely manner.
 
 Perhaps the moderator can explain the lag
 
Bill

 
In a message dated 7/17/2007 6:39:49 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
csevick at verizon.net writes:

Bill,

I think that you have mischaracterized my opinions about  government.  I 
distrust both our state and local elected officials.   The fact that the NC 
Association of Realtors is the single largest donor to  the political campaigns of 
our state legislators leads me to seriously  question whether they are acting 
in the best interest of their electorate with  regard to this real estate 
transfer tax.

The NC Association of Realtors  has stated that the sales tax should be 
increased as an alternative to the  transfer tax.  So, they think that it's OK to 
raise the general sales tax  rate above the current 6.75%, but don't even want 
a real estate sale to be  taxed at .10%.  I think it's reasonable to suggest 
that the average  citizen, who isn't a state legislator getting paid by 
realtors, might find a  minimal tax on a real estate sale to be acceptable.

Let me just add  that I'm not sure I would even vote for the transfer tax.  
Raising the  general property tax rate for everybody might be a more equitable 
way of  raising money.  In the end, though, all of our personal opinions don't 
 really matter.  The real issue is whether we are willing to allow  citizens 
to participate more directly in our democracy.   

Ironically, if you empower the community to make important decisions,  like 
local tax policies, you will see much greater participation in community  
groups like INC.  Think about it . . .


- Chris  Sevick

=====================
From: TheOcean1 at aol.com
Date:  2007/07/17 Tue PM 02:39:27 CDT
To: csevick at alumni.unc.edu,  inc-list at durhaminc.org
Subject: Re: INC NEWS - Act Now For NC's Future --  support the transfer fee 
or impact

Chris  I don't distrust the  community, I don't even distrust our county 
government. I think in general, we  can count on both to do the right thing..... 
very generally  speaking.   But all government is somewhat like a life form, 
always  looking for new sources of food (funding).This bill is so poorly 
conceived  there is no reason to place the temptation before the counties of North  
Carolina. If the tax is unfair, there's no reason make it available to the  
counties. If your trust is well placed, the counties would see that this tax  is 
unfair, and wouldn't employ it anyway. So what logic is there in giving  them 
this option? On the menu of your favorite restaurant is the statement  about 
adding the gratuity to the meal bill for parties over six. We all think  that's 
fair.Now imagine if it added that it also reserved the right to charge  the 
taxi cab driver who delivered the customers, if deemed appropriate. We all  
know that it would never be appropriate and we trust the restaurant to do the  
right thing, don't we? This tax bill is a little less cut and dry, as is  
evidenced by this dialogue. We all know the taxi cab driver doesn't owe any  part of 
that meal tab, that's simple. But this tax issue blankets all sellers  of 
property to include those who owe, but it also covers those who don't. It's  good 
that you trust our government to do the right thing, but would you want  them 
to have the right to send a tax bill to your out of state relatives? We  
trust them to see that it wouldn't be fair, don't we? It would just be on the  
books and never employed, right? If we know it isn't fair, why even have it as  
an option? If it obviously places even part of the burden where it doesn't  
belong, why not kill it at the state level?
There's no reason to ask each  county to come to the same correct conclusion, 
even if we trust they would do  so. Bill In a message dated 7/17/2007 2:15:28 
P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  csevick at verizon.net writes:Bill,

I'm a bit confused by your opposition  to the real estate   transfer tax 
bill.  As I understand it, if  the bill passes, it won't mean   that the transfer 
tax will be  imposed.  It just means that each NC county   will have the  
authority to let it's residents vote on whether or not to    institute the tax.

Even if you oppose the tax, you should support  this   bill.  If the majority 
of the people in this county  don't want the tax,   they can just vote 
against it.  I can't  think of a much more democratic   way to address the issue.  
If  we really care about our local community,   we should entrust our  local 
community with these decisions.

- Chris    Sevick








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