By an overwhelming margin, citizens in 16 counties resoundingly defeated a real estate transfer tax on Tuesday night. The proposed transfer tax, also known statewide as the “home tax,” would have resulted in property owners being forced to pay an additional tax just for the privilege of selling their home or property.

“The taxpayers of North Carolina spoke loud and clear across the state Tuesday,” said Tim Kent, executive vice president of the N.C. Association of REALTORS®. “As we have stated all along, the transfer tax would have been grossly unfair, singling out one group of people – those selling their homes – to pay for infrastructure, programs and services that benefit everyone.”

Citizen groups in the 16 counties initiated grassroots efforts to inform their friends and neighbors about the negative implications of a transfer tax.

“The more than 44,000 realtors in North Carolina care deeply about the communities in which they live,” Kent said. “They are keenly aware that our local governments have real needs, and they will continue to work with local officials to find the best solutions for these needs. But they, like those who voted Tuesday, realize the transfer tax is not the answer.”

The legislature during the 2007 session voted to give counties the option to place the transfer tax issue on the ballot. Only 16 of North CarolinaÂ’s 100 counties chose to put a referendum on the November 6 ballot.
“We hope the large margin by which these measures were defeated will send a strong message to other counties considering a transfer tax referendum for the future,” Kent said. “The bottom line – the home tax is a bad idea.”

As Jim Puckett of Charlotte points out -- the Real Estate industry spent a lot of money supporting trains in Charlotte. Now they've got to be paid for, so when the real estate industry shows up to oppose these sorts of taxes, they're just claiming that they want something, but THEY don't want to pay for it!

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