Joseph Coletti

Senior Fellow
Joe Coletti is a senior fellow at the John Locke Foundation focused on fiscal policy issues. He previously headed the North Carolina Government Efficiency and Reform initiative within the Office of State Budget and Management, which led to changes automotive fleet management, natural and cultural resources, and state contracting. He has spent his career improving operations and strategies at for-profit, nonprofit, and government entities. He has degrees from Johns Hopkins SAIS and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Posts by Joseph Coletti (page 1)

  • How government can hire better

    Since 2013, the number of government job postings has increased 11% but the number of applicants has fallen 35%. A recent report the National Association of State Chief Admistrators considers why this is and what governments can do to attract more people. Job applicants see government work as safe…
    Joseph Coletti, June 24, 2019

  • Car salesmen who don’t care

    James Lileks writes with more style and humor than just about anyone. He’s one of those writers other writers quote and say “I wish I had written that” —literally. He recently made more astute observations than I could about the lack of brio among car salesmen. Not that…
    Joseph Coletti, June 10, 2019

  • 2019-21 Senate Budget Overview

    The Senate budget incorporates the surprisingly large revenues from the current fiscal year that ends June 30 and higher forecast revenue for FY2019-20, but appropriates no more for operating expenses than the House did (Figure 1). Senate budget writers devote $397 million the first year and $713 million the second…
    Joseph Coletti, May 29, 2019
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  • How to use one-time money

    Yesterday, the governor’s Office of State Budget and Management and the General Assembly’s Fiscal Research Division released their latest consensus forecast, which includes the truly surprising April tax collections. Earlier reports suggested the revenue could be as much as $700 million higher than originally forecast. The final estimate is…
    Joseph Coletti, May 15, 2019

  • 2019-21 House Budget: Looking Ahead

    The House increases spending faster than the pace since 2011, and prepares for more demands next fiscal year in education and Medicaid, but Gov. Cooper expects much slower spending growth than he has proposed in any of his first three budgets (3.0% vs 4.9% / 5.0% / 5.6%). Even with…
    Joseph Coletti, May 13, 2019
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  • 2019-21 House Budget: Savings Reserve

    The Savings Reserve, the state’s rainy-day fund, would increase to $1.5 billion over the biennium under the House budget proposal, though it also leaves $600 million unspent that could be available in case of an urgent need. With the recently forecast $700 million surplus, the Senate could more…
    Joseph Coletti, May 13, 2019
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  • 2019-21 House Budget: Capital and Infrastructure

    One of the most confusing things about the House budget is the State Capital and Infrastructure Fund (SCIF). It makes comparing the House plan with the Governor’s plan or with spending in previous years, a challenge, but here is how the House and Cooper handle capital spending and…
    Joseph Coletti, May 13, 2019
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  • 2019-21 House Budget: Appropriations and Availability

    You can read our Spotlight on the House Budget or, if you prefer tables and graphs, we have them below First, we compare appropriations and availability in the House budget with Gov. Cooper’s proposed budget. When we treat debt service similarly, we see the governor would have spent $600 million…
    Joseph Coletti, May 13, 2019
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