The Alamance Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors has approved a resolution providing official support for increasing the local sales tax rate. A referendum for a proposed increase of 0.25% (one quarter percent) to the local sales tax rate will be on the ballot for the March primary elections.
“The Chamber supported a sales tax increase in 2018 when it was on the ballot along with the $190 million education bond and, before that, in 2012, the chamber actively supported a sales tax increase when a $15 million bond for Alamance Community College was on the ballot” said Troy Woodard, 2020 Chair of the Chamber Board. Neither of the previous sales tax increases were approved. Woodard continued, “this is a very small increase in the local sales tax but is estimated to generate $6.2 million annually which can be a significant alternative resource to property taxes for funding important community facilities and services.”
Chamber President, Mac Williams, added that “Alamance County has a unique opportunity with the sales tax because a lot of the retail sales and related taxes in Alamance County are paid by non-residents.” Williams says that Alamance County is ranked 17th in the state in population but 10th in overall retail sales and 14th in retail sales per capita. “This demonstrates to us that retail sales here are higher than our county population should be able to support on its own. We have a lot of other people from outside the county contributing to our local Alamance County tax base.”
For more information, click here to view a document prepared by Alamance County Government.