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)

  • What summer could have been with Covid

    UNC Professor Zeynep Tufekci says public health officials missed an opportunity this summer: we should have made it a priority to encourage people to recharge, psychologically, as much as possible over the summer. Instead, in a lot of places, we acted like we were still in the worst phase…
    Joseph Coletti, November 19, 2020

  • Schools are closed because schools are closed

    The Charlotte Ledger Business Newsletter provides the latest example of unintended consequences: Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools seems to face an unusual dilemma: To reopen middle schools, the district needs bus drivers. But under a new federal law, many bus drivers and other workers with children can stay home and draw guaranteed…
    Joseph Coletti, November 13, 2020

  • Tax revenue still on pace with last year

    Tax collections for the six months from April through September continue to track closely with the same period a year ago ($13.145 billion in 2020 vs $13.225 billion in 2019, -0.6%), according to the new General Fund Monthly Report from the Office of the State Controller. Tax revenue in…
    Joseph Coletti, October 9, 2020

  • Federal judge rules governor and health secretary acted unconstitutionally

    Not in North Carolina, but a federal judge has declared, “The constitution cannot accept the concept of a ‘new normal’ where the basic liberties of the people can be subordinated to open-ended emergency mitigation measures.” Four counties in Pennsylvania won their federal lawsuit against Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of…
    Joseph Coletti, September 14, 2020

  • July revenue report adds to uncertainty

    The full picture for 2019 income taxes is now available, but it does not provide much clarity about the revenue picture for the rest of FY2020-21. The latest General Fund Monthly Report from the Office of the State Controller includes the final income tax payments delayed from April. Personal…
    Joseph Coletti, September 10, 2020
    business or government leaders working on a budget document

  • End of Atlantic Coast Pipeline hurts Eastern North Carolina

    Low-cost energy is an essential ingredient to economic vitality. Rodney Pitts, chairman of Southern Elevator and a John Locke Foundation board member sent the following to the Charlotte Observer as a letter to the editor. The shutting down of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline Project, financed by Dominion Energy and Duke…
    Joseph Coletti, July 24, 2020

  • Cooper’s unemployment office tries to make its own law

    Today is the last day to comment on a proposed rule from the Division of Employment Security that is based loosely on state and federal laws, an expired Executive Order (121), and an Executive Order (118) whose validity is being challenged in court. In submitting comments on the rule, I…
    Joseph Coletti, July 23, 2020

  • Charlotte Arts and Science Council still adjusting to reality

    Charlotte’s Arts & Science Council went to the people of Mecklenburg County last fall to get a quarter-cent sales tax increase. The tax would have raised $50 million each year for the county, with $22.5 million going to the ASC, whose budget is currently $15.5 million. If the tax hike…
    Joseph Coletti, June 19, 2020