THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 31, 1995 TAG: 9503310528
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
Two of four Currituck County tax proposals designed to generate revenue for school construction were not introduced this week to the General Assembly as county officials had hoped.
Rep. W.C. ``Bill'' Owens said Thursday he decided against submitting a bill to increase Currituck County's land-transfer tax and another to establish impact fees on new residential developments.
Two others were submitted as promised. One would make way for a 1 percent prepared-foods tax; another could lead to a beautification-district tax in Corolla to build a bike path.
``The mood in the General Assembly is not for a whole lot of tax increases this year,'' Owens said.
``If you saw four new tax bills on exactly the same day for exactly the same county, my guess is they'd throw them in the trash all at the same time.''
Owens said the land-transfer tax bill, which seeks to increase a levy on property transactions from 1 to 2 percent, may still have a chance - though it's a very slim one.
Rep. Leo Daughtry agreed to attach Currituck County to his ``Johnson County bill'' if it makes it to the floor for a vote. Johnson County also is seeking a 2 percent land-transfer tax.
The chances of the Johnson County bill coming out of committee, however, aren't good, Owens said.
Instead, the former Pasquotank County commissioner believes the county may be able to raise money from a 1 percent statewide, local-option sales tax he is heavily promoting.
If the tax is adopted in all 100 counties, some $600 million would be raised annually to help fund $5 billion in school construction across the state, he said.
The potential loss of support for the sales tax from special interest groups was a major reason Owens dropped the two Currituck taxes.
``I had special interest groups say they supported the sales tax. But those same groups told me they wouldn't give me a letter of support if I introduced a land-transfer tax,'' the legislator said.
The lack of support within Currituck County also influenced Owens' decision.
More than 200 people, many representing the real estate industry, wrote letters or sent preprinted cards protesting the land-transfer levy.
``No one person, other than the board of commissioners, said they would support the tax,'' Owens said.
In a related issue, Owens said a bill introduced to allow Currituck County commissioners to recoup sale taxes on school construction materials is expected to pass early next week. by CNB