Orange Land Transfer Tax Defeated 2 to 1

It was a resounding “no” to a hike in the land transfer tax in Orange County. Voters rejected the proposal by a 2 to 1 margin. As John Hood writes in his column today, voters across North Carolina were in no mood for more or higher taxes this time around:

Finally, despite a massive turnout to nominate the most liberal senator in Washington as the next Democratic candidate for president, North Carolina voters didn’t suddenly lose their fiscal conservatism. Out of 24 county votes to authorize higher sales or real-estate taxes, the local-government lobby won only two votes: sales-tax hikes in Haywood and Cumberland, the latter by a fairly close margin. It wasn’t just small, rural counties saying no to higher taxes. Major counties such as Guilford, Nash, Gaston, Randolph, Orange, and Onslow rejected their tax proposals, usually by overwhelming margins.