City & County Government

The Randolph County commissioners are asking voters to approve a sales-tax increase on May 6. This report identifies $33.5 million in revenue and savings the county could use to meet its needs — more than 13 times the amount that the proposed tax increase would produce.

As one of the oldest forms of school choice in the United States, education tax credits empower low- and middle-income parents to choose schools that best meet their children’s needs. Cost-effective, constitutional, and consistent with federal and state tax policy, tax credits enjoy bipartisan support among education reformers and parents; in fact, the number of states with education tax credits has tripled over the past 10 years. Tax credits create a vibrant education marketplace by making private schooling affordable for low- and middle-income families seeking a fresh start for their children.

Wind power is generated through large groups of massive industrial wind turbines, sometimes as tall as 50-story skyscrapers. Like the wind itself, wind power is intermittent and extremely unreliable. The wind must be strong enough, but not too strong, to generate power. So wind cannot be used for baseload generation nor to meet peak demand. For example, to avoid a blackout, a Texas grid manager recently had to cut off electricity to some customers, in large part due to a sudden drop in wind power.

Researchers have consistently found that government-provided job training and placement programs are wasteful, inefficient, and sometimes even counterproductive. Researchers have also consistently found that private providers of job training yield strong, positive results.

Last year’s 5.24 percent dropout rate was a four-percent increase from the 2005-06 school year and was the highest rate in seven years. Only 70.3 percent of students in North Carolina graduate in five years. Over the last ten years, the North Carolina General Assembly has repeatedly tried to address the troubling dropout problem with no apparent success. The latest initiative, dropout prevention grants, will likely have little short-term or long-term effect on the dropout rate.

County and municipal governments provide many key services while taking in billions of dollars in revenue. Their roles grow ever greater as state government shifts more taxing power to localities to make up for money kept by the state. Still, finding comparative data is hard. That's why this report provides information of how much local government costs in every city and county in North Carolina.

The Alexander County commissioners are asking voters to approve a quarter-cent sales tax increase on January 8. But the county has nearly $5.3 million over and above its base budget to meet its needs.

The Catawba County commissioners are asking voters to approve a quarter-cent sales tax increase on November 6. But the county has about $16.3 million over and above its base budget to meet its needs.

Over the past six years, Goldsboro’s city owned and operated golf course experienced operational losses of over $2.5 million. The city unfairly competes with seven private courses in the area.

Over the past four years, Burlington’s city owned and operated golf course experienced operational losses of nearly $700,000. The city unfairly competes with 14 private courses in the area.