The Real Estate lobby has worked our State Congress over so hard that today they vote on repealing the transfer tax. If you have a moment, WakeUp Wake County implores you to give your state senator a call and let them know how you feel.
WakeUp Release Follows
This afternoon, Sen. David Hoyle (D-Gaston) ran his bill, SB 1951-REPEAL TRANSFER TAX on the Senate Floor. It passed 2nd reading by an overwhelming 38/9. The bill is on the Senate calendar for 3rd reading tomorrow, Thursday, June 19th. The Senate convenes at 10 a.m. so we don’t have much time to call and email to oppose this bill.
We are grateful to the 9 Senators who voted NO: Sens. Albertson, Atwater, Basnight, Dannelly, Dorsett, Graham, Jones, Kinnaird and McKissick.
TALKING POINTS
* I strongly oppose SB 1951-REPEAL TRANSFER TAX. I urge you to vote NO on 3rd reading on the Senate Floor tomorrow. (Thursday, June 18th.)
* In 2007, the General Assembly promised the counties a menu of options to raise revenue to address the severe infrastructure needs, especially in low-wealth and high-growth counties.
* This is a one-time tax on the buyer when property is sold, as opposed to the property tax that is paid every year.
* The Realtors lobby spent millions of dollars to defeat what they called “the home tax.” Why not call it “the shopping center tax” - it applies to all property sold.
* County governments cannot advocate for a position and they certainly cannot compete with the misleading and well-financed media campaign of a statewide political action committee.
* The six (6) counties that already have the ability to raise a local option real estate transfer tax have seen their property taxes go down (not up) and have seen their schools improve.
* Counties put the transfer tax on the ballot prematurely - without the proper voter education.
WHO TO CONTACT
CHAIRS OF SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE
Sen. Dan Clodfelter (D-Mecklenburg)
(919) 715-8331
Danielc@ncleg.net
Sen. David Hoyle (D-Gaston) (THE BILL SPONSOR)
(919) 733-5734
Davidh@ncleg.net
Sen. John Kerr (D-Pitt)
(919) 733-5621
Johnk@ncleg.net
THE “BIG” CHAIRS OF SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
Sen. Linda Garrou (D-Forsyth)
(919) 733-5620
Lindag@ncleg.net
Sen. Charlie Dannelly (D-Mecklenburg) (HE VOTED NO-THANK HIM)
(919) 733-5955
Charlied@ncleg.net
Sen. Charlie Albertson (D-Duplin) (HE VOTED NO-THANK HIM)
(919) 733-5705
Charliea@ncleg.net
ADVISORY MEMBERS OF SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
Sen. Walter Dalton (D-Cleveland)
(919) 715-3038
Walterd@ncleg.net
Sen. Kay Hagan (D-Guilford)
(919) 733-5856
Kayh@ncleg.net
SENATE LEADERSHIP
President Pro Tempore of Senate
Sen. Marc Basnight (D-Dare) (HE VOTED NO-THANK HIM)
(919) 733-6854
Marcb@ncleg.net
Majority Leader, Rules Chair
Sen. Tony Rand (D-Cumberland)
(919) 733-9892
Tonyr@ncleg.net
For a complete listing of all Senators, go to this URL:
http://ncleg.net/gascripts/members/memberList.pl?sChamber=Senate
This is also available on the WakeUP Wake County Web site:
http://wakeupwakecounty.com
Welcome to New Raleigh. We welcome your participation in the ongoing discussion. Before posting we ask that you read our Comment Policy and we invite you to register with our site. If you want to keep up with the news on our blog, subscribe to the RSS feed or get emailed every time we post.