Archive for March, 2008
Monday, March 31st, 2008
Why is this option before the voters?
In 2007, the state Legislature passed a law to overhaul the way Medicaid is paid. Before, counties were responsible for paying part of Medicaid expenses. Under the new law, the state takes on the county’s share of Medicaid, and in exchange counties have to reduce their sales taxes from 2.5 percent to 2 percent in 2010.
The new law gives counties an option to recover lost tax revenue. They can either raise sales taxes another 0.25 percent or put in a tax on land transfers of 0.1 percent to 0.4 percent. Counties cannot pass either of these new taxes without voters’ approval. A special referendum has to be held and approved by the majority of voters in the county. If the referendum loses, the county cannot collect the tax.
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Friday, March 21st, 2008
Opinion
The Wrong Tax at the Wrong Time
By Mark Zimmerman
Orange County has always prided itself on being a progressive community that strives for fairness. When the Orange County Commissioners chose to add a referendum to the May 6 primary election ballot imposing a new sales tax on property, known as the transfer tax, it abandoned those principles.
The transfer tax is a regressive tax that will disproportionately impact lower-income homeowners, place an unnecessary burden on affordable housing and nonprofit organizations and unfairly concentrate our taxes on a minority of our fellow citizens. The way it works is that when you sell your home or some land, Orange County will take 0.4 percent of your selling price before giving you the rest of your proceeds.
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Posted in Opinion, Transfer Tax | No Comments »
Friday, March 21st, 2008
Senator Kay Hagan, Democratic candidate for the United States Senate, will speak on Wednesday, March 26 at 6:30 p.m. in the multipurpose room of the Central Carolina Community College in Pittsboro.
The event, which is sponsored by the Chatham County Democratic Women, will be open to the public and free of charge. There will be a question and answer period following her remarks.
Senator Hagan, who is in her fifth term in the NC Senate, co-chairs the Appropriations Committee. She is running for the US Senate seat now held by Elizabeth Dole.
For information contact Barb Alotis at bjalotis1@nc.rr.com.
Posted in State, elections | No Comments »
Friday, March 21st, 2008
The Obama for President campaign has landed.
This week, organizers working for Barack Obama, a U.S. Senator from Illinois and frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, started operating out of the former location of Shorty’s on Franklin Street.
More staffers and volunteers are expected to arrive soon to help gear up support in the area ahead of North Carolina’s May 6 primary.
Obama, locked in a race for delegates with New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, sent out a recent appeal for contributions to bolster his efforts in North Carolina and Pennsylvania — two large states with delegates still up for grabs.
Dave Tillery, who has been helping organize local grassroots support since mid-February, said he hopes to soon pass on lists and information about people interested in volunteering.
Tillery, who has done the majority of his organizing through the Obama campaign website, said he was excited to see the headquarters open. Obama, he said, is a candidate who can bring about a deep change in the country. Volunteers in the area have held sign-painting events and gathered names of people interested in helping.
Local support, Tillery said, is strong, with additional grassroots groups forming in Hillsborough and Mebane.
Posted in National, elections | No Comments »
Monday, March 10th, 2008
By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer
Six candidates have filed for election to the Orange County Schools Board of Education.
Incumbent Al Hartkopf is running for re-election, challenged by newcomers Eddie Eubanks, Steve Halkiotis, Tony McKnight, Jeff Michalski and Stan Morris.
Three seats on the board are available. School board member Dennis Whitling resigned last month, following his arrest on charges of embezzlement.
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Monday, March 10th, 2008
Last Friday marked the last day of filing season for the May 6 primaries and school board election and a final-day flurry of filings resulted in a number of races turning from non-competitive to contested and perhaps the first time in county history where a husband and wife could find themselves running against each other.
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Monday, March 3rd, 2008
A quick Web update:
The last day of filing season for the May 6 primaries and school board election saw a number of races turn from non-competitive to contested.
Among the filings:
• Neloa Jones and Mary Wolff joined Bernadette Pelissier in the Democratic primary for the lone at-large county commissioner seat.
• Wolff’s husband, Kevin, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Chapel Hill last year, filed for the Republican primary for the at-large commissioner seat. He is uncontested in that race.
• The Orange County Schools Board of Education election now has six candidates vying for three seats. They are Stephen H. Halkiotis, Tony McKnight, Jeff Michalski, Eddie M. Eubanks and Al Hartkopf and Stan Morris.
More information is at the Orange County Board of Elections site.
Posted in Orange County, elections | No Comments »
Monday, March 3rd, 2008
By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer
In an otherwise quiet week of candidate filings, the race for an open judicial seat for Orange and Chatham counties expanded to three names.
Assistant District Attorney Lamar F. Proctor Jr. of Efland added his name to those seeking to succeed District Court Judge Patricia Devine, who has indicated she will not seek another term. Already signed on for the Democratic primary are Page Vernon, a Chatham County lawyer and former assistant district attorney, and Chapel Hill attorney Glenn Gerding. The judicial seat is one of three on ballot this year in District 15B, which covers Orange and Chatham counties. Incumbent judges Beverly Scarlett and Chuck Anderson, who have filed for re-election, have not drawn a primary challenger.
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