News 14 Carolina - Political Connections

To tax or not to tax..that is the question. It remains unclear how quick and if counties will take advantage of the new ability to raise taxes. The land transfer tax and 1/4 cent sales tax options must be approved by voters as well.

It seems counties are unsure of what they can do. Todd McGee from the County Commish Assoc. says some counties want to put both on the ballot and then pick which to use (counties can only utilize one not both). However, it's not clear if that's legal. Others don't know if they can get it all together and give the State Board of Elections proper notice. All in all, it seems as though most will wait til next year.

Numbers from McGee show it's a mixed bag as well when it comes to potential revenue. Some counties would gain more from the sales tax increase and others would do more with the land transfer tax.

The Realtor's Association already has plans to get locals involved for any potential ballot issue on the topic.

In most cases if the county can make as much or more with the sales tax they will likely go for that just to avoid the fight from realtors.

Should be an interesting 18 months as this hits ballots in many counties.