Carolina Politics Online

Hanahan — Orlando Reyes said it was just some friends getting together for poker. But Charleston County deputies said they found more than just cards and money the night they raided Reyes’ home in the Tanner Plantation neighborhood.

Marijuana, drug paraphernalia and evidence that Reyes was operating as a bookie were among the items seized from the upscale house on Tanner Hall Boulevard, affidavits said.

Reyes, 41, was arrested again Wednesday and charged with betting and bookmaking. He was released on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond.

The Post and Courier

Is this or is this not the land of the free?  Was Reyes hurting anyone else by smoking marijuana in his own home?  Was he hurting anyone else by operating as a bookie?  He wasn’t sending out Vinny to break someone’s legs was he?  Who was he hurting by partaking in the poker ring?  What does society have to gain by putting this man behind bars?  He is not a dangerous criminal by any means.  He has not hurt anyone else or put anyone in danger.  He has simply lived his life the way he sees fit but because the “moral majority” doesn’t like it he gets locked up.

I guess I answered my own question, really.  This is not the land of the free.

Currently, state law mandates that property values are to jump from the assessed value to the market value for tax purposes when the property is bought or extensively renovated.

A bill that passed the state House unanimously Wednesday would delay that increase until each county does its next five-year reassessment. Beaufort County’s next reassessment is in 2009.

The bill faces another vote in the House before moving to the Senate.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Bill Cotty, R-Columbia, says thousands of real estate contracts in South Carolina have fallen through as an unintended consequence of the property tax law approved two years ago.

Local Realtors applaud the new bill. Because assessed values are typically well below market values, home buyers can face taxes that are double what the previous owner paid, said Linda Palmer, president of the Hilton Head Area Association of Realtors and a Realtor with Keller Williams Realty.

“It’s a very good thing,” she said. “We totally support it.” Tom Jackson, broker-in-charge at Gateway Realty, agreed the bill could spur home sales.

“It’s not a major thing (causing slow sales),” Jackson said, “but every little thing helps when you’re in a slower market.”

The Beaufort Gazette

I don’t understand why so many governments struggle with this issue.  I think the current law should stand instead of making it more complicated.  If you pay $150,000 for a house then you should pay taxes based on the $150,000.  Whether or not the previous owner only paid on $125,000 is irrelevant.  The house is now worth more.  It doesn’t make sense to me to stave off the higher assessment for two or three years.  You should go into the new place knowing what you’re going to pay.  If someone buys a house under Cotty’s bill and pays the lower taxes and then in two years their reassessment catches up with them and suddenly their tax bill jumps to a level they can’t afford, what then?  Foreclosure??

Don’t misunderstand what I’m saying.  I’m not a big fan of property taxes, but they are a necessary evil today with all of the services local governments are providing.  Unless we are going to scrap the public school system and go back to a pre-New Deal model of education, there is really no other way to fund these local government initiatives.  A sales tax alone won’t cut it.

RALEIGH — A House panel recommended Wednesday that North Carolina temporarily ban cities and towns from forcing annexations so lawmakers have time next year to consider changes that some residents have sought.

The one-year moratorium on involuntary annexations — through June 30, 2009 — also would help municipalities make sure they can provide water and sewer hookups and fire and police coverage to new residents, a committee leader said Wednesday.

Fayetteville’s forced annexation of more than 40,000 residents was wildly unpopular, and remains so more than three years after it took effect. In most neighborhoods, the city has yet to deliver sewer services. It’s unclear how the proposed ban could affect any possible plans to annex Gates Four, an affluent community that was excluded from the 2005 annexation. The earliest Gates Four could be brought into the city limits is June 30, 2009 — the same date for lifting the proposed ban.

The Fayetteville Observer

Forced annexation has to stop, no question about it. That is a blatant infringement on private property rights and what has been going on in places like Fayetteville is even more disgraceful. Not only do they forcibly move the city limits to encompass the property, they don’t even provide the city services the owners have to pay for for months or even years. I can’t believe nobody has sued over this.

I live in an unincorporated area, but I like it that way. I don’t have to pay city taxes and that’s fine with me because I don’t need the city services. The laws here in South Carolina are much more strict regarding annexation than in North Carolina, but if a city tried to annex my home I’d go down fighting.

Cornelius commissioners Wednesday approved the largest development proposal in town history, a project that could lead to sweeping changes to the region’s economic and traffic landscape.

The board approved a rezoning and conditional-use permit for The Village at Lake Norman — up to 2.4 million square feet of shops, condos, restaurants, offices, parks and two hotels — by a 3-2 vote.

Commissioners Jim Bensman, Dave Gilroy and Susan Medlin voted for the rezoning of 105 acres on the southwest corner of U.S. 21 and Westmoreland Road. Commissioners Eddie McNeely and Thurman Ross voted against.

As part of the $516 million project, the developer has promised to widen Interstate 77 to at least three lanes in each direction between Exits 23 and 28 and add an interchange at Westmoreland Road.

Charlotte Observer

There was some opposition to this, as there usually is in suburban communities, but I look at development as a positive thing.  With development and growth comes more industry, which creates more jobs, and eventually a higher standard of living for more people.  Growth has to be measured, of course.  Cities need to make sure they have the appropriate infrastructure in place to accommodate the excess businesses, traffic, people, etc., but it sounds like Cornelius has a solid plan.

ASHEVILLE – More than 50 Democratic sheriffs in North Carolina announced their support Wednesday for state Sen. Walter Dalton in his campaign for lieutenant governor.

Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan was among those who endorsed the fellow Democrat from Rutherford County, praising Dalton’s efforts to pass the Meth Lab Prevention Act and his introduction of legislation that would ban sex offenders from social networking Web sites.

“I am very happy to support Senator Dalton. His introduction of legislation to help with sexual predators and also methamphetamine has definitely helped our job,” said Duncan.

Asheville Citizen-Times