But the coming year will be different in one critical way. The state legislature stands poised to offer the counties the option to raise local sales taxes by a half percent. If those who currently run the commission can hold off on the vote on the sales tax increase until after elections, and avoid committing to a position on it before Election Day, they'll be able to shove that through as soon as they're elected. Don't misunderstand. This doesn't mean that the county commission under Parks Helms won't also hike property taxes next year or during any other non-election year after that. It just means that the rate at which government spending outpaces inflation in Mecklenburg County will be able to grow more exponentially and it will be two years before the voters can do anything about it.
Election Day is the catch here. If the media actually forces commissioners to commit to a position on the half-cent sales tax before the election, there's a chance that there might not be a tax-and-spend majority on the commission next year. With Becky Carney's current at-large seat up for grabs and Democrat Darrel Williams moving up to run at large, there's a possibility that the tax-and-spend reign of the Helmsocrats could come to an end and the city and county could remain fiscally competitive enough to compete for new business with other lower-tax areas in the Southeast and retain what affordable housing we have left. There's a possibility that the elderly people on fixed incomes who live on my street won't have to sell their homes to find the money to pay their taxes. And there's a possibility that this county will remain an affordable place for my future children to grow up.
Between 1991 and 2000, the per capita property tax rate in Mecklenburg County rose from $386.82 to $640.78. At the rate we're going this decade, it appears that Helms has set a goal to not just double, but triple the per capita property tax rate, never mind the money the commission could be taking out of our pockets in sales tax.
All voters have to do to is tune in to what is going on around them and demand that these folks, in particular Helms and Williams, take a position on the half-cent sales tax and the near-inevitable double-digit property tax hike they'll drop on us next year. Will they or will they not hike taxes? And if so, why and by how much? It's a simple question they shouldn't get away with answering with some mumbled promise to look at the facts and decide later. As in later after the election.
Make them decide now.