AG 1997 11 17 - Laserfiche WebLink

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To: Cabarms County Residents IX This isn't about US. It's about YOU and me and everyone who owns or dreams ofowning real estate in America. Sure, it's a Cabarrus County issue today, but every county in the state has their eyes focused on what We do November 17, this Monday! This tax isn't about people moving in to our area, it's a tax on those people already here! It's the person who owns property in Cabarms County NOW that will have to pay this tax. Anytime a Deed transfers to another entity, this tax will be charged to you the owner. You want to give your property to your children, you will pay the tax. You want to sell your property to your neighbor, you will pay the tax, anyone buying your property, you will pay the tax. And right now, the tax is proposed to be set at 1%, which is equivalent to $1267 (baaed on the average value of Cabarrus County homes). The tax you pay will be more or less than that depending on your property's value. But what's to stop this tax from increasing fi.om I% to 2,3 even 4%? How many times have you known our taxes to go down or even be eliminated? Any day now all Cabarms County property owners will receive their notice of revaluation of their property. We have been prewarncd that values have appreciated double digits since our last valuation and preconditioned to accept the fact that our taxes will 8o up. Who among us believes that they will pay less property taxes next year than they did this year? I believe property taxes to be an elective tax and nondiscriminatory in nature. You own real estate because you can own rea[ estate. It's a right we have as Americans and a right we need to protect. Should you own property worth $20,000 or $200,000, you pay taxes on that respective value. It's your choice to own any value of real property and you pay your fair share. Someone owning a $300,000 house pays I 0 times the property tax of a person owning a $30,000 house, but, it's elective. The person, owning the $300,000 house, chooses to own this property and pays the taxes based on that value. Property owners have and will continue to pay their fair share of'taxes. Any additional tax vehicle, such as a transfer tax, shouM be opposed by every property owner. Why? In addition to being discriminatory against property owners, it makes home ownership more difficult for entry level home purchasers and it reduces equity for those people whose major asset is home value. Some would have you believe that the real estate industry is opposed to this tax because the industry is greedy. This has nothing to do with greed, it has to do with being advocates for the rights of property owners. If we don't speak out on behalf of you, the property owners, who will? We believe in schools and for the citizens of our county to enjoy the best in education. We just don't believe that an additional tax just on property owners is the solution to this problem. As an industry we are strong proponents of the 1% sales tax as a fair and broad based tax that should provide the revenues needed for our school's future. As an example, the new mall complex planned for King's G-rant is projected to have annual sales of one billion dollars. Sales tax on this location alone could provide Cabarrus County with 20 million dollars a year for schools. This should go a long way to providing for our future needs. Some people say that the real estate industry opposes this tax because it is afraid that real estate sales will suffer. Should this tax be approved, people will continue to purchase property in Cabarms County. As long as we are a neighbor to Charlotte our area will continue to grow and the real estate industry will continue to thrive, As I said in the beginning of this article, this tax isn't about US, it's about YOU and me and every person who owns or aspires to own real property. What can YOU do? CALL YOUR County Commissioners and let them know YOUR position. I've listed their names and phone numbers below. And, show up at the County Commissioners meetin8 on Monday, that's THIS MONDAY, at the Governmental Center at 6:30PM. Join me in saying "NO TRANSFER TAX". Allen Craven Sue Casper Carolyn Carpenter Jeff Barnhardt Dr. Niblock Kenneth Mills phone: 782-5196 phone: 786-8656 phone:888-0368 phone: 782-7866 phone: 783-0534