The transfer tax will help our county commissioners fund our schools and parks, while relieving pressure on the ever-increasing property tax. The transfer tax in effect defers payment of some property tax until a house is sold, when the seller is receiving revenue. This is exactly what our elderly people who are being taxed out of their homes need to allow them to get by from month to month.

The N.C. Association of Realtors has spent $205,000 so far in state and national funds to buy ads in Orange County that use fear, sorrow, gloom and doom to fight this tax. Furthermore, every dollar it spends comes from professional sources. Shame on these real estate organizations that spend big bucks to peddle fear.

And what a waste! Had the group donated $205,000 to the Orange County schools, the schools could have purchased 300 computers for 300 kids and given them instant access to the world.

Joe Capowski

Chapel Hill