HOLD ON TO YOUR WALLETS

       If you are feeling a twinge in your back pocket or your purse is vibrating, it’s just your wallet shaking at the thought of all of the different ways the politicians are coming after you, the home owner. I remember when---no I’m not that old---I read in a history book that the tax system in this country was set up to provide a military, police and fire protection, highways and public transportation, and education. Now at every level of government we want to fund a wide range of social programs, medical and prescription drug programs, coliseums and stadiums, etc……You get the idea. I am not against all of these things but we only seem to run short of money for the basics, like education, and not for the add-ons. The state of North Carolina finds itself in an 800 million dollar hole this year and is trying to blame it all on hurricane Floyd, when poor planning and over-spending are the real culprits. The bottom line is that one of the ways the state is trying to recover a lot of this money is not to refund to the counties their normal share of the tax bounty. Why our money has to first go to Raleigh and then come back will always be a mystery. The politicians—who think there are fewer votes at risk going after the “wealthy homeowner”  than raising the general sales tax---have set their sights on the home owner and the home buyer in a number of ways to make up for this shortfall to the counties.

·         The previous article discussed property tax revaluation. One more thought is to beware of the politicians when they  brag on how much they lower your property tax rate this summer. Compare the new bill with last year’s bill and see if the increase is a reasonable one.

·         Impact fees! I do remember when these fees did not exist. If you don’t know what they are, they are a fee paid by the builder or developer just for the right to pay for a building permit so they can  build a house that you, the consumer can pay property taxes on. For example, Chapel Hill/Carrboro currently has an impact fee on single family residential homes of $3,000 each. Orange County is studying a proposal to raise their fee from $750 to $3,000. Beware over at the Hill, the city officials won’t be able to stand having the same fee as the county for long.

·         Transfer taxes.  You remember these on your closing statement. This is the $200 per $100,000 of sales price that the seller paid for the right to sell his or her own property. The state is taking a serious look at raising this fee considerably. Realtors in North Carolina have been successfully fighting this tax for years and as a result we have one of the lowest transfer taxes in the nation---for now.

·         Rezoning requests held hostage. A prime example of this tactic is the city of Durham, who for a number of years has been playing politics with developer’s proposals in the vicinity of Garrett Road and NC 751. The city has been trying to get someone else to pay for extending Garrett Road one block to Highway 54. I thought roads were one thing our taxes paid for---at least originally.

·         Have you driven down Hope Valley Road or Davis Drive or Highway 55 in Cary and wondered why every other quarter mile had been widened. For some time now developers have had to pay to widen state roads in order to develop their land. Also coming to Cary and being discussed in Durham and Chapel Hill is the idea that if you develop a neighborhood you must build a school.

    Beware! All of these costs are passed on to you, the home owner and the home buyer, and with a profit tacked on, to you the renter.          

     I apologize for having taxes on my brain while writing this issue, but it is almost April 15^th.

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