CHAPEL HILL - Voters in 16 counties defeated transfer taxes in November, and for now, Wake and Durham counties aren't planning to bring the matter up. But it's still on the table in Orange County, where the Board of Commissioners is holding a public hearing this week.

If Orange County commissioners move forward, they'll be bucking a political trend and setting up for a fight with home builders and real estate lobbies that have shown they're willing to spend a lot of money to oppose the measure.

Discussion of two revenue options for local governments -- a 0.4 percent land transfer tax or a quarter-cent sales tax increase -- has been lively. A couple of audience members at the Board of Commissioners' last meeting on the issue started debating before the session began.

But Chairman Barry Jacobs said he isn't expecting a large audience at this week's meeting, which begins at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the new courthouse in Hillsborough.

The General Assembly approved the revenue options last year. The board can present both options to the voters but can impose only one.

Jacobs said board members are leaning toward presenting only the transfer tax option, but he said they still need to talk it over. He recognizes that a transfer tax referendum would face stiff opposition and might have few advocates.

"The home builders and the Realtors have made it clear that they will pour money into campaigns to defeat transfer taxes," Jacobs said. "And since the government's role is to educate, not advocate, it raises the question of where's the counterbalancing force."

Transfer tax referendums were soundly defeated in 16 counties in November, in most places by at least a 3-1 margin. Of those, 11 counties had only a transfer tax on the ballot; five counties had both the transfer tax and the sales tax increase before voters.

In Chatham, where the referendum was defeated, Commissioners Chairman George Lucier said he expects a transfer tax will come before voters again but said the board hadn't discussed when.

Durham's county commissioners sought public comment on the tax options last fall but decided November was not the right time to ask voters to approve either option.

For now, Durham's leaders have put the issue on hold, Chairwoman Ellen Reckhow said.

"The economy is very bad right now," Reckhow said. "The housing market is faring poorly due to the subprime mortgage debacle. There is concern about going into a recession. We don't feel the timing is very good to be asking voters for either a land transfer tax or added sales tax."

Since the transfer tax measure was trounced in November across the state, Wake County's commissioners have shied away from putting the tax on the ballot.

According to estimates from the N.C. County Commissioners Association, Wake could gain $45 million a year from a transfer tax, or about the price of a Wake County middle school.

Jacobs added that because Orange County residents traditionally show strong support for education funding, the revenue options likely would be tied to schools. But the board is planning to test that hypothesis with a poll, he said.

According to county figures, the land transfer tax would bring in about $4 million a year, and the sales tax increase about $3 million.

Counties already levy a 0.2 percent tax in the form of deed stamps when someone sells property. The new land transfer tax would raise the total tax to 0.6 percent of the real estate sale price.

The Orange County commissioners will decide Feb. 19 which tax to put on the May primary ballot and how to use the money.

(Staff writers Samiha Khanna and Sam LaGrone contributed to this report.)