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Dear State Senator
Dear State Senator I'm a little tired tonight but I don't think I'll run out of different ways to say that local governments need local revenue options. Check out the video. Just click on the monkey! We made it just for you. And check out our earlier videos: Support Transfer Tax | Local Options
UnReal Estate
Money Buys Power The NC Association of Realtors reported new spending of $128,771.20 for lobbying expenses in the month of May, bringing lobbying spending for 2007 to $494,886.36 not including other spending through the NC Realtors PAC or the antonymously named NC Homeowners Alliance 527 committee funded entirely by the NC Realtors which will […]
Transfer Tax for Good Growth
When my wife wants to fall asleep she asks me to explain how a telephone works. Explaining growth and infrastructure has the same effect. Mention taxes and the average person will wake up but upon hearing the trigger phrase "tax base", eyes will glaze over and deep sleep sets in. Call me a somnambulist chaser […]
Siege Mentality
If you ever want to understand the significance and insidiousness of James Arthur Pope and John Hood in framing political debates in North Carolina there are some articles that reveal motivation and methods in undermining progressive policies. In an article in Philanthropy Magazine, Transforming Public Policy, The Evolving Relationship Between Donors and Think Tanks, by […]
Camden County Can’t Get No Respect
Camden County is so poor it wants a landfill to import trash from other states to generate franchise fees that would pay debt service on a loan for a school addition and sewer extension that could not be built without also getting a rural development loan from the US Department of Agriculture to renovate the […]
Local Governments Need Local Options
Last week Rob Schofield wrote an excellent analysis: A Middle Ground on Real Estate Transfer Taxes. My Quick Take: Rob's Quick Take: * One of the most contentious ongoing tax policy issues in North Carolina concerns the issue of land transfer taxes. * Though popular with voters and local officials, these taxes are strenuously […]
Missed Opportunity
Part of the deal with Google to locate in Lenoir involved secret negotiations between Duke Power and Google for land controlled by Duke Power and electricity to be supplied by Duke Power. These dealings were blessed with exemptions for sales tax on the purchase of that electricity. One legacy of Lenoir's declining manufacturing activity is […]
Monopoly Money
The people who take 6% of the value of a home every time it is bought and sold are opposed to using 1% of the value of a home to pay for roads, sewers and, schools which help to maintain and increase the value of homes and our quality of life. The virtual monopoly of […]
NC Good For Business
There's just too much good news about North Carolina's business climate coming out in the Triangle Business Journal. Apparently we're very competitive when it comes to attracting business. Don't tell the John Locke Foundation until Monday – let them enjoy the weekend. Study: N.C. biz tax burden tied for lowest in U.S. Businesses in North […]
No BASIS of comparison
Rob Schofield wrote an excellent critique of a misleading John Locke Foundation report at the Radical Right Reality Check of NC Policy Watch entitled Ideologues Push the Education Factory Model regarding comparisons with a BASIS charter school in Tuscon, Arizona. Something still didn’t sit right with me regarding the John Locke numbers so I took […]
Illegal Bill Illegal?
A bill filed in the State House threatens to criminalize the normal and legal activities of hundreds of small business owners. House Bill 308 “State Contracts/ Illegal Immigrants” filed by Rep. George Cleveland would mandate participation in a voluntary federal program by everyone who enters into a contract with the State of North Carolina for […]