NC Realtors Provide Alternate Reality About Norwalk in Mailer

The NC Realtors have been mailing out flyers, under the alias of the NC Homeowners Association, with lies alternate versions of reality and distortions about Stan Norwalk who is running for Wake County Commissioner.

On Land Transfer Tax: True: Norwalk has been an advocate for the use of a Land Transfer Tax for school funding in high growth counties like Wake. That's about the only truth in the flyer.

On property tax: False: Norwalk has not proposed an increase in property tax. In fact he has advocated for the Land Transfer Tax as a way to avoid property tax increases. In the absence of a Land Transfer Tax increase in Wake County Norwalk projected that property taxes would increase. Guess what? Wake County increased property taxes.

On sales tax: False: Norwalk has not supported the tax. In fact he has gone to great lengths to look at alternate sources of funding for transit. The quote in the flyer was take out of a context where Norwalk was explaining elements of the STAC (Special Transit Advisory Commission) Report and he even included a reference to the NC Justice Center's opposition to sales tax increases: Is there transit in your future?. Here is the entire post:

$4+ per gallon gas, the success of the CM lynx transit system, and the growth in outlying portions of the region, away from job centers, the energy led, rapidly rising costs of road infrastructure have combined to make transit a hot topic once again. As I travel around the County, the high cost of commuting is uppermost in most peoples minds. Our emphasis on the car is coming back to haunt us. Only 3% of the state's dollars is pent on transit.

Recently a new plan was unveiled for the region. While it still contains the commuter rail component of the previous plan that failed to get federal funding, the new plan sensibly put far more emphasis on buses and van pools.

The proposed funding mechanism, largely for the bus component, is an additional half cent sales tax, which likely would have to be approved by each county in the region. CM's vote in a recent referendum, strongly rejected a move to roll-back their half cent sales tax for transit has heightened support for this funding mechanism. Funding for transit and transportation in general will be major topics in the long session of the NCGA starting in January.

Here is a streaming video of a forum sponsored by WakeUP and others on transit. It was attended by about 300 people including many public officials. A link to a 2 hr+ video of the forum can be found on WakeUp's home page http://wakeupwakecounty.com/cms/

Here is an excellent summary of NC's declining transportation infrastructure by the NC Justice Center. They do not support the sales tax as currently structured.
http://www.ncjustice.org/assets/library/1158_btcrpt28feb08roadfund.pdf
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It's Time for a Change
Elect Stan Norwalk for County Commissioner

On Norwalk's property tax payments: Distortion: Norwalk has an excellent record of paying property taxes on time dating back to 1995 when records first went online. Wake County property taxes are due between September and January of the following year. It is misleading for the NC Realtors Homeowners Alliance to state that September is the due date as most escrow payments are not made until the middle of December, a fact that any realtor would know. For 2006 property taxes interest began January 8, 2007. Norwalk paid before the end of January, on the 24th, including interest of $30.62 which was the only such payment in thirteen years of online records.