When Wilson County voters rejected a sales-tax increase this week, they joined a tax backlash across the state.
Twenty-four N.C. counties had either sales or land-transfer tax options on the ballots Tuesday, but only two passed -- sales-tax increases in Cumberland and Haywood counties.
John Locke Foundation president John Hood called the results a message that local governments should avoid pursuing such tax increases in the future.
"More than 540,000 voters in nearly a quarter of the state's counties had a chance to tell county commissioners what they think about higher tax rates," Hood said. "More than two-thirds of those voters delivered a clear signal -- elected leaders need to forget about draining more money away from the local taxpayer."
Around 73 percent of Wilson voters were against a 0.25 percent increase in the sales tax, or a cent per $4. That increase was also shot down in Nash, Wayne, Edgecombe and Greene counties.
Voters in four counties rejected an increase in a tax paid when property is exchanged.
Thirty-two counties held tax referendums in November 2007. Only five of 16 counties approved sales tax increases then, while all 16 counties considering land-transfer taxes rejected them.
Alexander County approved a land-transfer tax in January.
The John Locke Foundation released research this spring that questioned the counties' justification for higher taxes. The foundation suggested ways that governments could be more efficient.
"In some cases, the counties could generate more than 10 times as much money for high-priority spending items simply by taking the steps outlined in these reports," Hood said. "Voters understand that their local tax burdens are high enough -- if not too high. Tuesday's votes should send that same message to county governments across North Carolina."
DOLE WEIGHS IN ON ETHANOL
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole has joined colleagues to ask the EPA to waive mandates on food-based fuels because they are contributing to higher food prices.
The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 mandated highly subsidized corn-based ethanol production. That is expected to contribute to a worldwide shortage in cereal crops, such as rice, wheat and corn.
"To meet this requirement, a substantial volume of our corn crop and our vegetable oils will have to be diverted into our fuel supplies, severely impacting food and feed prices," Dole and 23 other senators wrote to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson this week.
"We believe the EPA should begin the process of examining alternatives to ease the severe economic and emerging environmental consequences that are developing in America as a result of the mandate," they wrote.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, food inflation is rising by 4.9 percent. Since February 2006, the price of corn has increased by more than 200 percent, thereby resulting in feed price increases that impact the cost of items such as milk, eggs and meat.