The Week in Review
...your Wilmington Connection
November 3, 2007
Wilmington is experiencing the first slight chill in the air. Just in time for those final soccer games, the season is wrapping up click here for pictures of the tinaabraham.com team. Congratulations to a Great Season! The Real estate market is still faring well here, with Wilmington being a southeastern hotspot. Look here for some up to date stats.
It sure beats property taxes
On Nov. 6, voters in Brunswick and Pender counties will decide whether there's a fairer way to pay for growth. By saying yes to a land-transfer tax, they'll put some of the burden on those who benefit most directly from that growth.
If voters agree, counties can now levy a tax of four-tenths of one percent on the sale of property. That's $400 for every $100,000 on the sale price.
True, it's another tax. It would come out of the seller's profit - although it stands to reason that the cost will be passed on to the buyer in some way.
Yet it's an alternative to raising property taxes on
everyone to help pay for growth that has packed schools, clogged roads and burdened water and sewer systems.
Realtors and builders are lobbying hard against the measures, raising the familiar specter of a tax that would price working families out of the housing market.
But the area's popularity and rapid growth have raised the cost of home ownership much more significantly than four-tenths of one percent on the price of a house. That growth brings many benefits, but it also creates demand for more services and infrastructure. A Rate Cut, but a Sense It Stops Here
The Federal Reserve gave investors what they wanted, lowering interest rates for the second time in two months, but it pointedly warned Wall Street not to expect more cuts ahead.
The move, to reduce short-term rates by one-quarter of a percentage point, to 4.5 percent, was aimed at preventing the disruptions in mortgages from crippling the rest of the economy. But the vote was not unanimous, reflecting disagreement among policy makers.
In a statement accompanying its decision, the central bank warned that "some inflation risks remain" and played down risks of a possible recession. "The upside risks to inflation roughly balance the downside risks to growth," it continued. N.C. still top of business climate list
Magazine shows Southeast most attractive to firms
Washington | For the third straight year - and the sixth time in seven years - North Carolina has topped a list of states with the best business climate.
The rankings, released Thursday in Site Selection Magazine, showed that the Southeast continues to dominate as the region most attractive to business leaders.
Magazine editor Mark Arend said the latest survey confirms the now well-established pattern of moving factories and offices to the less-unionized South. The most popular sites "tend to be right-to-work states," he said.
Also, Southern states "are the fastest-growing states, so they have a good supply of labor with the right skills," he said. "And they have great logistical infrastructure, like state highways, ports and airports."
Moreover, the South has warmer weather, which many people prefer. "Quality of life factors in there.' Location could let condos rise high
Project on Oak Island, county land evades limit
High-rise condominiums could be built to their proposed 135-foot height near the Oak Island bridge, but it will likely be two to four years before that happens.
Right now, the developer - Oak Island Property Holdings LLC - is focusing on another part of the project that includes a marina on the Intracoastal Waterway with 56 boat slips and a 224-boat dry storage facility.
The project on the mainland east of the bridge would straddle Oak Island and Brunswick County zoning jurisdictions, allowing the area's first high-rises despite the town's 55-foot maximum height limit.
The condos and three smaller buildings would sit in county territory, while the marina would be in Oak Island's.
Although public access to the waterway is desperately needed and residents don't seem to have a problem with the proposed marina, council member Dara Royal said, the condos have them in an uproar.
"I think the entire community is appalled at the thought of having two buildings at 135 feet in that area," she said. .....until next week in The Week in Review Tina
Comments(0)