FRANKLIN COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY
101 WEST NASH STREET
P.O. BOX 909
LOUISBURG, NORTH CAROLINA 27549
(919) 496-1469
www.FranklinNCGOP.com 


Winters: Try Fiscal Responsibility

March 18, 2006 Franklin Times

Try fiscal responsibility

Dear Editor:

Once again, the easy answer is to raise taxes rather than just being fiscally responsible.

The tax base in Franklin County is increasing at a good clip but not enough to keep up with the growth in government.

Moreover, it is apparently too difficult to stem the government expansion or grow the tax base through economic development, so the easy way is just to find a new tax to levy. I guess it is even easier if you tax those who have not moved here yet - through an impact fee - or those that are leaving - through a real estate transfer tax.

A real estate transfer tax will stifle the housing market.

Building might just be the largest industry in the county right now. Do we want to risk adversely affecting it?

Dare County is not representative of of the entire state by any means. Many of the homes there are vacation or rental properties.

The dynamics driving their real estate values are very different from ours.

Another thing to consider is that most homes re-sell every 6 or 7 years. If one assumes a modest 5  percent annual increase in home values and a lateral move every six years, a 23-year-old who buys a $100,000 home today would pay out almost $23,000 in transfer taxes before he retires at 65, and of course, if those moves were to bigger and more expensive homes, the total would be much higher. Another concern is our long-term residents whose total assets are tied up in their home or farm. When it comes time for them to "cash-out," they will be stung by this tax.

The federal government showed us by eliminating most taxes of the profits on the sale of real estate that an industry, unfettered by confiscatory taxes, will grow rapidly.

Does this county really want to upset that trend?

And by the way, we already have a real estate transfer tax: the excise tax.

Bob Winters
Louisburg