Good stewards of our money?

I've decided to give $100,000 to the public schools.

Well, not exactly. But they can have the money. All they have to do is tell the Orange County Board of Commissioners to cancel the $100,000 they decided to spend on advertising to convince the voters to pass the real estate land transfer tax. To me, that decision disqualifies the commissioners as stewards of our money.

Another issue: Is this a democracy? The commissioners could have let us choose between two forms of potential tax increase, the above real estate tax or a 0.25 percent sales tax increase. They voted not to let us choose. -- Dan Murphy, Chapel Hill

Two reasons not to vote for transfer tax

These are reasons why you should vote against the land/home transfer tax.

The tax will be paid by the seller. You sell, you move. You won't even be around to enjoy any of the benefits from the tax. Does it seem fair -- after paying county, city and school taxes on your property for 45 years -- that you are asked to give the county more money because you need to sell your house? There already is a land-home transfer tax on the books (called "deed stamps") that the seller pays. The county wants to increase it. If you sell a $350,000 house or land, the seller now pays $700. If you vote for this new tax, the seller will pay a whopping $2,100 ($700 plus $1,400). Don't be misled by the seemingly small percentage that will be printed on the ballot. That percentage translates into big bucks, right out of the seller's pocket.

The county is under no legal obligation to spend the proceeds from this tax on schools and parks, although this is how the advocates for the tax are promoting it. The State of North Carolina will not allow the ballot to mention schools or parks because, legally, the money can be used for anything. Once the tax is on the books, that money can be spent for anything that the present or future commissioners desire. This is not a temporary tax; it will be there forever.

I am not a Realtor. I am just a registered Democrat who believes in fair taxation. -- Linda Mews, Chapel Hill

Art gallery's move will be town's loss

I have just learned of Joe Rowand's plight and am shocked that he is being forced to relocate Somerhill Gallery. I only hope that he will be successful and that Chapel Hill will not lose what has been and still is a major source of artistic expression in this area.

I speak as a professional artist who has not been associated with the gallery and encourage the entire artistic community to rally around Joe. Having been in Chapel Hill 31 years, I remember Eastgate in its various transformations and always considered Somerhill as the standard bearer by which other properties would be measured. Does Federal Reality not realize that by forcing out this unique cultural resource it has endangered the viability of its other tenants who have branches in areas outside of Chapel Hill?

Also, with few commercial properties relative to other counties, it is a loss to Chapel Hill that our Town Council should be concerned about. -- Rebecca Margolese-Malin, Chapel Hill

Counties flourished with land-transfer tax

Misinformation about the proposed transfer tax for Orange County is being disseminated to voters who will make a decision on the transfer tax on the May 6 ballot. I wish to correct that misinformation by showing what the effect is on the six counties that have had the transfer tax for many years.

Seven counties were given permission to levy the tax and six took advantage of it. During those years, growth in the counties has not slowed, their ad valorum taxes are the lowest in the state and they have more money for schools. In fact, after the transfer tax passed, their ad valorum property taxes went down while their school funding increased. The seventh county that declined to enact the transfer tax has one of the highest ad valorum taxes in the state and has had slow development and low school funding.

In other words, those counties with the transfer tax have flourished and their schools are well-funded while enjoying low property taxes.

The choice is for ever-increasing ad valorum property taxes to pay for our growth and the need for more schools and parks to accommodate that growth, or a one-time tax that affects a family maybe only one or two times in their lives.

Finally, signs are sprouting up around the county that say, "Vote no on the home tax." This catchy but incorrect slogan ignores the fact that the ad valorum property tax is a "home tax" already, just one that is hard on those with a fixed income.

I hope everyone will carefully consider the true value of the transfer tax in providing Orange County with the schools and parks it needs to serve our current population and those who join us later. -- State Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, Carrboro

Too many of us take stance as victims

America is suffering from "victim mentality disorder." We have become a nation of people who "cry foul" whenever something does not go our way. Everyone wants to be "the victim."

Everything we see, hear or read is subject to this disorder, as everything can be construed as offensive by someone or some group. Television programs, radio programs and the print media all have to tread on thin ice to keep from offending someone. This is not right.

In America, we have a thing called freedom. This freedom gives us the right of not having a TV show, a radio show, a magazine or a newspaper forced upon us. We all have choices and the freedom to change the channel or to not read anything that offends us. That is our right.

No one in America should be allowed to be the moral authority over what is offensive or not. Something that is offensive to one could be humor to another. Just because something bruises your precious ego or pride does not mean someone else should not be able to see it.

If something in the media offends someone, there usually is some truth to the offending item. If something in the media is not offensive to anyone, then there probably was not much value in that item to begin with.

The only problem with this "victim mentality disorder" is that people who attempt to change it are castigated by these same "offended" people who keep promoting this mentality. Improve yourselves. Lighten up. To be offended shows a flaw in your personality, not a flaw of the offender. -- William "Bear" Brooks, Haralson, Ga.