Gates County voters aren't likely to see a land transfer tax on the ballot any time soon after the proposal was soundly defeated for the second time in two years earlier this week.

On Tuesday, Gates voters shot down a proposal to charge a four-tenths of a percent tax on property sales by a better-than a 2.5-to-1 margin. The final vote tally was 843 votes for the land transfer tax and 2,015 against.

The referendum also failed in November 2007 by a margin of 711 to 489 when it was the only question on the ballot.

"I don't think you'll probably see it on the ballot any more here," said David Brown, a former Gates commissioner who convinced his fellow commissioners to put the measure out for a vote the second time.

"I think the public has resoundingly said they don't want it," he said.

Gates voters were not alone.

On Tuesday, voters in 22 counties refused to pass local tax referenda.

A quarter of North Carolina's 100 counties submitted local tax increases for voter approval. The land transfer tax failed in four counties where it appeared on the ballot: Gates, Tyrrell, Orange and Ashe counties.

Meanwhile, voters in 18 counties rejected local sales tax hikes. Voters in only two counties approved measures to raise taxes.

Dallas Woodhouse, president of Americans for Prosperity-North Carolina, a watchdog group that lobbied against the tax, said citizens clearly want government to do some belt tightening, just like families must do in these tough economic times.

"I think, in a general sense, they (residents) feel like they are already overtaxed," he said. "With gas prices at almost $4 a gallon, there is just not an interest in adding more taxes. I think (voters) expect government to have to make hard choices, just like people (do) in their own lives."

He said the land-transfer tax would eventually have to be paid by every homeowner when they sell.

"It all affects the cost of housing," he said. "There is certainly not an appetite (to add the tax) when the housing market and land prices are going down."

Gates Commissioner Kenneth Jernigan said Gates County, which has only 62 businesses, has a limited ability to generate tax revenue.

He said the land-transfer tax would have helped, generating an estimated $100,000 to $125,000 a year.

"(Failure of the referendum) is a disappointment," he said. "But we'll not let it bother us. We'll have to look for resources somewhere else."

Brown, the former Gates commissioner, said county commissioners decided to put the land transfer tax on the ballot instead of a proposed sale tax increase for good reason.

"Sales-tax revenue has been decreasing for three years in row," he said.

A study conducted last April by the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners found that counties with land-transfer taxes have been able to reduce property taxes, increase funding for economic development, and reduce reliance on borrowing to build schools.

Gates County resident Steve Williams, who works at an insurance agency, said those were some of the reasons he voted for the tax.

"It is needed to cut the tax base down on those of us in our houses," he said. "It would put more of a tax burden where it is needed."

Up until 2007, the only counties with state approval to impose land-transfer taxes following voter approval were Pasquotank, Camden , Chowan, Perquimans Dare, Currituck and Washington. All but Washington — where voters have rejected the proposal twice — has enacted the tax.

Lobbying groups for real estate agents and the homebuilding industry have run ad campaigns against the tax, arguing it will sap home equity and make homes less affordable.

In 2007 the General Assembly agreed to allow other counties to hold referenda on levying up to a .04 percent land transfer tax.

"I think the message is that after 20 times on the ballot (since the legislature's action), the land transfer tax has failed every time," Woodhouse said.

Gates is so cash-strapped that it recently informed Camden County that it could not afford to shell out any money to help fund the legal bill to fight a proposed outlying landing field coming to Northeastern North Carolina.

The U.S. Navy is studying sites in Camden and Gates counties, and Camden had asked Gates to help share the costs of hiring a legal and public relations team to fight the study.

Gates County has a new interim county manager who will be dealing with both the county's budget crunch and its opposition to the OLF study.

Paul Gregory Jr. has replaced Melinda Hoggard, who recently resigned for personal reasons.

Gregory, who recently retired from the position of Perquimans County manager, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

"He brings a lot of experience," Jernigan said.