N.C. voters shot down more than a dozen local tax referenda Tuesday, bringing the total number of counties to reject the tax increases since November 2007 to 48.

The results were similar to past elections, when voters rallied against a proposed quarter-cent sales tax and 0.4 percent land-transfer tax by wide margins. Critics of the taxes say a slumping economy and troubled real-estate market are contributing to voter aversion.

“The public has told their local governments time and time again that the land-transfer tax is not the answer,” said Julie Woodson, a spokeswoman for the N.C. Association of Realtors, a group that has lobbied hard against the tax. “It’s unfair because it singles out one group of people to pay for infrastructure to benefit everyone.”

Supporters agree that economic woes are contributing to the tax increases’ failing record. “It’s probably not a real good time to ask for additional taxing authority. That’s especially true with the land-transfer tax, considering the mortgage industry troubles,” said Todd McGee, communications director for the N.C. Association of County Commissioners.

About two-thirds of voters in Polk and Tyrrell counties voted Tuesday against the land-transfer tax. The tax would have tripled the tax cost of selling a home in each county. Proposed land-transfer tax increases have failed all 22 times counties have considered them.

The quarter-cent sales tax fared no better. All 13 counties with the tax on the ballot voted it down by an average of 76 percent. Caswell, Cherokee, and Mitchell counties rejected the tax by 80 percent or more. The margin of defeat was closest in Hertford County, where the sales tax went down by 53 percent to 47 percent.

A 1 percent meals tax in Durham County also failed by a three-fourths margin. If passed, the tax would have funded recreational and cultural projects in the county.

Since the General Assembly made the local-option taxes available in 2007, only eight counties have approved the sales tax and none the land-transfer tax. Cumberland County rejected the sales tax last year but then approved it May 6. Some counties have tried to pass one or both taxes multiple times without success. Henderson County, for example, has rejected the land-transfer tax once and sales tax twice.

Other counties have scheduled special elections for the tax referenda. After a notification problem forced the land-transfer tax off Clay County’s ballot, county commissioners rescheduled the vote for Aug. 29, the Friday leading into Labor Day weekend. Although turnout was low, voters still rejected the tax by 61 percent.

Heavy voter turnout Tuesday had an impact on the results as well, Woodson said. “People came to the polls because they are frustrated, especially because of the economic downturn, and anything that would eat into their equity is not going to pass,” she said.

McGee said the taxes have been a tough sell. “It’s our democratic process at work. If citizens say no, they say no,” he said.

The Association of County Commissioners and some local elected officials have faced criticism from real-estate groups and other organizations for allegedly using public funds to push the tax increases. County governments are free to spend public money to educate residents about potential tax increases, but they are prohibited from using such funds to actively lobby for passage of the new taxes.

David Thompson, executive director of the association, said his group takes a neutral position on the local-option taxes. “Our [goal] was not to say any specific revenue stream or tax was a good thing by itself, but each county needs to look at its whole revenue picture and then determine its own needs, whether it’s from growth or the need for new infrastructure to encourage growth,” he said.

David N. Bass is an associate editor of Carolina Journal.