Harnett County Seeks Sales Tax Vote

By Emily Weaver
Daily Record of Dunn

The Harnett County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution Tuesday, asking the state’s General Assembly for permission to add a local sales tax referendum to ballots in November.

The resolution seeks a “local statutory act to allow Harnett County to conduct a referendum during the November 2026 General Election to levy a local sales and use tax of up to one-cent in addition to all other state and local sales and use taxes.”

An extra penny in the sales tax would generate close to an estimated $16 million for the county.

Board Chairman Eddie Jaggers joked that even drug dealers have to pay that tax because they “buy stuff in Harnett County, too.” The sales tax applies to everybody that buys something, he said. “That was one of the reasons we were pushing that.”

But state legislators may be more inclined to green light a vote that would allow the people to decide.

The resolution states, “the County of Harnett has experienced exponential growth with numerous residential subdivisions bringing thousands of new residents to the County. … Additional services are required to meet the needs of the growing population including, but not limited to, emergency services, law enforcement, social services, transportation, public health, parks and recreation, and school facilities. … The County’s two primary sources of revenue to provide such services are property tax and sales and use tax. … The ever-increasing cost of services and construction, specifically new school construction, requires additional revenue to meet the needs of the county’s growing population.”

State law currently allows local governments to conduct a referendum on increasing the sales and use tax by a quarter, but an increase of more than 25 cents requires a local bill for a referendum adopted by the state legislature. A quarter increase in the sales tax is estimated to generate an additional $3.9 million for Harnett County.

Local municipalities have raised concerns about not receiving their fair shares of sales tax revenue doled out by the state. Zip codes overlapping more than one county can create confusion as to the proper distribution of sales tax revenue especially from online purchases.

County leaders are encouraging residents to use their nine-digit zip codes instead of the five-digit codes to make sure Harnett is receiving its fair share of taxes from online purchases.

“If you live in Harnett County but have a Fuquay-Varina or Holly Springs zip code, you could be paying more because Wake County has a higher sales tax rate than Harnett County. This means not only could your sales tax dollars be going to Wake County, but you could be paying more money for what you buy online,” states a brochure on county sales tax dollars.