Joseph Coletti

For years, budget experts have forecast billions of dollars in new revenue if state could just get online retailers to collect sales taxes like their Main Street counterparts. The National Conference of State Legislatures projected North Carolina would raise $426 million a year. Since companies started collecting sales tax for…

My commentary yesterday on the possibility of refunding some or all of the surplus to people has generated some discussion, thanks in part to a simpler version on this blog and to comments on Twitter. A couple suggestions seemed worth pursuing. First, refunding money to taxpayers using the…

North Carolina’s Department of Transportation announced it is reviewing up to 1,000 temporary and contract jobs for temporary layoffs, the Raleigh News & Observer reports. Those positions are vulnerable, in part, because NCDOT has paid $675 million over the past three years responding to storm damage. Compensation for decades…

House Democrats effectively shut the door on a veto override, and with it a new budget agreement for the fiscal year, yesterday. All but four of them signed a commitment letter to uphold Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto. Unless three more decommit or are not present, Republicans will be short of…

A letter writer to the Hendersonville Times-News worries that private liquor sales would eliminate “profits for public advantage” and put personal profits ahead of the “control and prevention of underage drinking.” Alcoholic Beverage Control managers, however, seek personal profits just as much as a private business would. The current system…

Wealth taxes and estate taxes are taxes on the virtue of saving. And nobody has found a good way to implement such a tax. Ten European countries, including France, Germany, and Sweden have repealed wealth taxes. India also repealed its wealth tax, first enacted in 1957, in 2015. Chris Edwards, in…

“We might need a rating agency to threaten [North Carolina’s AAA bond rating] for us to see both sides return to the table in earnest.” Zagros Madjd-Sadjadi, an economics professor at Winston-Salem State University, told the Winston-Salem Journal. This begs the question: What about current spending threatens North Carolina’s…

North Carolina had the sixth-best funded pension for state employees and teachers in the country in 2017, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts. Past and present state leaders deserve credit for regularly setting aside enough money to meet those pension obligations. The pension system also holds up well in…