Residents Reject Tax To Preserve Outer Banks

North Carolina's Dare County received permission from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for its beach-replenishment project in 2004. County Commissioners raised the county sales tax by a penny, to 8 cents on the dollar, to start paying for the sand. Opponents organized to fight the so called "sand tax" in a referendum, which was held in February. Nearly 80 percent of those who cast ballots voted to repeal the tax. It will expire in June. Ray Midgett, who organized opposition to the tax, doesn't think beach replenishment will be cost-effective: "Beach replenishment just isn't right for the Outer Banks. Our beaches are wild beaches, and no matter what you do, they're always going to be wild beaches. You can't make a circus pony out of wild stallion." Rather than reintroduce the tax, County leaders plan to ask Congress for money to restore beaches.