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News: Primary Election 2008 Preview
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Primary 2008Return to the list of candidates. Sales Tax ReferendumAlso on Tuesday’s ballot will be a referendum for a local quarter-cent sales tax. • The question on the ballot, which can only be answered either “for” or “against,” will read: “Local sales and use tax at the rate of one-quarter (0.25%) in addition to all other state and local sales and use taxes.” • What is a sales tax? Currently North Carolina levies a 6.75 percent sales tax on all retail goods sold. Of that, before Medicaid relief, 4.25 percent went to the state, while 2.5 percent went to the localities. The state’s half-cent adjustment of that proportion will be made as the Medicaid relief is phased in over the next three years. This quarter-cent local option sales tax would make Wayne County's rate an even 7 percent. That means that every $1 spent would equal seven cents in sales tax. • Is the tax automatically levied if approved by the voters? No, the voters are only giving the commissioners the option to levy it. It cannot, however, be put into place without the majority of voters’ permission. If the tax is approved by the voters, the commissioners must then still move to enact it. • When can they do that? And when will it take effect? The commission can vote to enact it anytime after it is approved by the voters following a 10-day public notification period. Then, as long as that’s done by Aug. 1, the earliest it can become effective is Oct. 1. Otherwise, it can become effective on the first day of any calendar year as long as the county gives the state Secretary of Revenue at least 60 days notice. • How is the money going to be spent? The ballot does not allow the county to state a specific use for the funds, but the commissioners have said they will use it to pay for the replacement of the county’s emergency communication equipment over the next four to five years. • How long will this tax be on the books? There is no expiration date on the tax. It will be in place until a future board decides to remove it. • How much revenue will this tax generate anyway? The North Carolina Association of County Commissioners is projecting that the quarter-cent sales tax will generate approximately $2.57 million annually for Wayne County. The county has estimated that it could be anywhere from $1.8 million to $2.4 million. • And how does that compare to what is generated by the county’s property tax rate of 76.4 cents per $100 value? One penny of property tax is equal to approximately $550,000. That means if the quarter-cent sales tax generates $2.4 million in revenues, it will be equal to 4.36 cents in property tax. • If the referendum fails is that end of it? Maybe, but maybe not. The commissioners can vote to put the matter back on the ballot — either for the next election (in this case November) or for a special election, provided that it’s at least 30 days after the last election and at least 30 days before the next. |
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