Alexander voters OK quarter-cent sales tax

• 2008 local option revenue referendums

Alexander became the sixth county to gain voter approval to levy a new quarter-cent sales tax option during a special county election Jan. 8. The tax will take effect April 1.

Voters gave the referendum a resounding win, with 1,790 votes for and 352 votes against. Commissioners have pledged the estimated $450,000 in revenue to go toward a new or expanded county jail.

Voters in Catawba, Martin, Pitt, Sampson and Surry counties passed local-option sales tax referendums in November 2007. All told, 11 counties pursued the sales tax option in November. Ten counties exclusively pursued the land transfer tax option but none were successful. Five counties put both options on the ballot, and voters rejected both in all five counties.

The General Assembly during its 2007 session granted counties the authority to hold public referendums on the quarter-cent sales tax or 0.4 percent land transfer tax to help them deal with future needs caused by our state’s rapid population growth and as a way to relieve pressure on the property tax. A county can only enact one option, and whichever option a county chooses must first be approved by the public via a referendum.

As of early January, 14 additional counties had announced plans to pursue one or both of the revenue options this year. In May, Caswell, Duplin, Edgecombe, Lincoln, Nash, Onslow and Wilson will seek the sales tax, Gates and Pamlico will pursue the land transfer tax, and Lee will place both options before voters. Orange will place one of the two options on the ballot. In November, Burke and Wilkes will seek the sales tax, and Polk will try for the land transfer tax.

Burke and Wilson were the latest additions to the list, as both announced plans in January. Burke commissioners said if the measure passes, they would use the estimated $1 million in revenue to extend water lines throughout the county.