Orange County commissioners are determined to impose yet another sales tax hike. If they get their way, a half-cent transit tax will appear on the November ballot. A public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, June 5 at 7 p.m at the Department of Social Services, Hillsborough Commons, 113 Mayo Street, Hillsborough.

The latest tax hike push comes just two months after the county imposed a quarter-cent sales tax hike. The hike was approved by voters after it appeared on the ballot at a time when conservative rural voters — who helped defeat it the first time around — had no local offices on the ballot and for which to turn out. It was an obvious attempt — and a successful one — to circumvent the opposition to higher taxes.