Property Tax for Durham could rise

The property tax for Durham could rise by one cent for the 2015-2016 budget. The increase would be for new firefighters and police which to me seems like a worthy cause. The departments do need to show a need and also how the new officers would be utilized. The current property tax for Durham is 59.12 cents per $100 valuation. The one cent increase would mean a $35 increase for a house valued at $250,000 for instance. Of course this comes at a time when the state legislature is reducing the amount of money it is giving to cities potentially causing even higher tax rates. Hopefully things will settle down quickly as the budget for Durham is due in May and has to be balanced. Glad I am not the Mayor.

Mortgage Debt Relief in Raleigh and Duham

Why does the legislature keep tacking bad amendments to good bills. This bill will affect Short Sale sellers in the Raleigh and Durham area as well as the rest of the state if passed. Please read the bill and send a Call TO Action to your state senator. When the seller's bank accepts less than what is owed to them, then that is viewed as being "income" to the seller. Please note that while the Federal Government has decided not to tax people on this "income", now NC has decided that it WILL tax the sellers on the shortfall like it is income. Your sellers need to know that. p.s. They stuck this provision in NC's new gas tax bill. Here is the article: No mortgage relief in bill Senate Bill 20 is more than just a gas tax bill. It has the potential to affect thousands of people filing their income taxes this year. That's because it contained technical provisions, known as internal revenue code updates, that help match North Carolina's tax laws to the federal government's. This set of IRC updates is being made in response to federal tax changes passed in 2014. For example, the bill mirrors the federal tax code in a way that will let teachers keep a $250 tax deduction for buying school supplies. However, North Carolina has decided to charge taxes on some items that would have gone untaxed due to changes to federal laws. The most controversial change along these lines has to do with mortgage debt that is forgiven. When someone who is in a financial pinch has the amount they owe on their home forgiven through a debt relief program, that can be counted as income. The federal government decided not to tax this amount, but the state will under the Senate Bill 20. This change was controversial when the measure passed through the Senate because it levies a big tax bill on those trying to work their way out of debt. When House lawmakers first passed this bill, they excluded the mortgage forgiveness from taxes. The compromise measure takes the Senate position.

Raleigh To Pick Up Storm Debris

Raleigh collection trucks will continue to pick up debris from the last few ice storms for the next couple of weeks. They will also contract with CrowderGulf for extra collection people and equipment. The heavy snowfall and freezing weather has kept city collection trucks off the streets as well as caused the heavy damage to trees in the region. The warm weather during the snowfall made the snow wet and heavy which bent and broke tree branches. The city I just moved from, Virginia Beach does the same type work but others in the region don't. I haven't heard anything from Durham or Cary yet so I don't know how those cities are handling the situation.