For Immediate Release – May 6, 2007
Contact: Dallas Woodhouse (919) 839-1011 ext.15, or cell (919) 671-1050 dwoodhouse@afphq.org

Voters Soundly Defeat Numerous Local Tax Hikes on Ballot

Americans for Prosperity Mobilized Citizens Against Local Tax Referenda

NORTH CAROLINA – Taxpayers from across all parts of North Carolina sent a clear message to local elected officials that their taxes are already too high. Voters in 22 counties refused to pass local tax referenda, thanks in part to the hard work of the grassroots members of Americans for Prosperity (AFP).

“Our families and small businesses are already struggling in a changing economy,” said Dallas Woodhouse, AFP North Carolina Director. “This is not the time to raise taxes; this is the time for bloated government to tighten its belt like citizens do with their own family budgets. We are so proud of the hard work of our members who attended meetings, put up signs and worked to support lower taxes in their communities.”

A quarter of North Carolina’s 100 counties submitted local tax increases for voter approval. The land transfer tax failed in the four counties where it appeared on the ballot: Orange, Tyrrell, Gates and Ashe Counties:

• Ashe (55 percent voted "no.")
• Gates (70 percent)
• Orange (66 percent)
• Tyrrell (55 percent)

Meanwhile, voters in 18 counties rejected local sales tax hikes. Voters in only two counties approved measures to raise taxes.

In Lee County, Americans for Prosperity members placed signs, called neighbors, and held informational meetings.

Lloyd Jennings, leader of a successful organizational effort in Lee County, said: “This increase in taxes would have added to the costs of products and services in Lee County. We do not believe the people of Lee County are under taxed and we took that message to the citizens in Lee County. It was a great grassroots effort.”

Sales Tax Results:

• Duplin (59 percent voted "no.")
• Edgecombe (68 percent)
• Gaston (64 percent)
• Greene (63 percent)
• Guilford (75 percent)
• Henderson (63 percent)
• Hertford (71 percent)
• Lee (55 percent)
• Lincoln (74 percent)
• Moore (63 percent)
• Nash (61 percent)
• Onslow (74 percent)
• Randolph (70 percent)
• Rockingham (69 percent)
• Stanly (66 percent)
• Wayne (82 percent)
• Wilkes (65 percent)
• Wilson (73 percent)

Based on unofficial election night returns, 66 percent of the 536,805 votes cast in local tax referendums opposed tax increases. Cumberland voters endorsed a sales tax increase with 53 percent of the vote, while Haywood voters endorsed the quarter-cent tax increase with 57 percent of the vote.

Americans for Prosperity-North Carolina joined many groups working to inform voters about the impact of the local tax increases, including FreedomWorks and The John Locke Foundation.

Last year the North Carolina General Assembly gave counties the option to seek voter approval of either increasing the sales tax by one-quarter cent or tripling the land-transfer tax rate from 0.2 to 0.6 percent. Before tonight, voters in counties across the state have faced 33 total tax-increase proposals and voted down 27.

Americans for Prosperity-North Carolina (AFP-NC) is the North Carolina chapter of the nation’s premier grassroots organization of citizen leaders working at the state and local level and committed to advancing every individual’s right to economic freedom and opportunity. AFP educates and engages citizens in support of restraining state and federal government growth and returning government to its constitutional limits. For more information, visit

www.afpnc.org

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