Inside Politics: Primary energy may help tax plan
Monday, March 31st, 2008
By Staff
Cumberland County commissioners hope they get a positive bounce from the Democratic presidential primary on May 6.
The commissioners are pushing a sales tax issue that also will be on the ballot. They want to raise the sales tax by a quarter percent.
Voters rejected the county’s first attempt in November, when turnout hovered around 10 percent.
The commissioners think a higher turnout, buoyed by the buzz over Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, will help this time. Both made stops in Fayetteville this month.
“I think people will be coming out for different reasons and will be going to the polls for something — a candidate — rather than going to vote against something in a special election,” Commissioner Jeannette Council said.
The sales tax issue was the only countywide item on the ballot in November. Municipalities also held elections.
County officials partly blamed their defeat last fall on angry homeowners in western Cumberland County whose homes were involuntarily annexed by Fayetteville in 2005. They didn’t want to pay more taxes.
This time, the county commissioners have unanimously pledged to lower the property tax rate by 2 cents in June if residents approve the sales tax increase. The current rate, one of the highest in the state, is 88cents per $100 in value. (more…)
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