This might be the first year in a long time that municipalities and counties live up to their financial reporting obligations if a law passed in 2019 works.
With a competitive Democratic presidential primary and a Republican incumbent, eight counties saw an opportunity to get voter approval for a sales tax referendum. This was the first presidential primary year with more an incumbent Republican and an open field for Democrats and the results for sales tax votes reflected…
WRAL used results from a poll that makes no mention of the budget fight to claim, “[Gov. Roy] Cooper is winning the popular vote in the ongoing battle.” The poll asked voters a hypothetical question about expanding Medicaid that obfuscates the budget cost and consequences, let alone the…
Laura Wright, an English professor at Western Carolina, opines in today’s Raleigh News & Observer, “For more than a decade, the salary stranglehold on UNC system faculty has been perpetuated by our state’s legislature and ignored by the media. Flat wages over such a long period actually constitute cuts…
A New York Times story on “black families leaving Chicago” led me to another story on the topic a year ago. The earlier story described Kristin Ware’s decision to move from Chicago to Charlotte for a lower cost of living, better schools, and “lots of opportunity.” Ware told…
North Carolina has a number of policies and practices to ensure budget sustainability for local governments and their taxpayers. Sales tax increases must be approved by voters at times when every precinct votes, which generally means in primaries or general elections and are acknowledged to be for general purposes. The…
Although Wake County projects enrollment to grow just 0.7% over the next six years, commissioners still plan to borrow money for school construction this year. They plan to do it without a vote of taxpayers, which would mean a 20% larger tax increase to cover higher interest…
In response to stories of layoffs at the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Brian Balfour at the Civitas Institute found that the agency has spent 12% more through December compared to the prior fiscal year. Looking closer, Medicaid spending is $261 million ahead of last year ($90…
