Here is what I think about Lee County voters approving an additional 0.25 cent sales tax:
1. Higher sales taxes disproportionately affect the poor, so it is hardly a cause for celebration.
2. The General Assembly raised the sales tax earlier this year, so the poor and unemployed in Lee County, as well as the other nine counties that approved sales tax increases since 2007, are really in for tougher times.
3. In the last three years, 10 of 100 counties imposed an additional sales tax on their residents. Eight of the ten are low wealth counties, according to the Department of Public Instruction.
4. Sales tax victories often relied on lower-than-usual voter turnout. Thus, seven of ten successful sales tax votes were in odd numbered years (2007 and 2009) that featured few major or contentious races. Two of ten successful sales tax votes in 2008 were in May and one county passed a sales tax in January of that year. Of course, voters in 18 counties rejected additional sales taxes in May 2008, and voters in twelve counties rejected sales tax increases in November 2007 and 2009 elections.
5. Of the 53 sales tax votes conducted over the last three years, 43 of them have failed. That is a failure rate of around 81 percent. That is a success rate of not good.
6. Of the 23 land transfer tax votes conducted over the last three years, 23 have failed. That is a failure rate of around 100 percent.
7. This week, voters in Lee and Rowan counties approved sales tax increases; 66 percent of voters in Harnett County rejected it, down from the 81 percent of voters that rejected the proposal in 2007.
