Spotlight Report

COPs Evade Voter Scrutiny: Taxpayers on the hook for special indebtedness

by Sarah Curry
posted on in Government Reform, Spending & Taxes
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•  The last statewide General Obligation Bond referendum was held in 2000; all debt since then has been issued without voter approval, making special indebtedness the sole form of debt in North Carolina since 2001.
•  Special Indebtedness is more expensive than traditional General Obligation debt, thus creating a larger burden on taxpayers.
•  40% of North Carolina’s total current debt is special indebtedness.
•  Certificates of Participation (COPs) are the most favored form of special indebtedness.

Spotlight 431 – COPs Evade Voter Scrutiny: Taxpayers on the hook for special indebtedness

Sarah Curry is Director of Fiscal Policy Studies at the John Locke Foundation. Previously, she worked for the North Carolina State Senate as a research assistant for the chairs of the Senate Agricultural Committee and headed the research efforts for… ...

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We are North Carolina’s Most Trusted and Influential Source of Common Sense. The John Locke Foundation was created in 1990 as an independent, nonprofit think tank that would work “for truth, for freedom, and for the future of North Carolina.” The Foundation is named for John Locke (1632-1704), an English philosopher whose writings inspired Thomas Jefferson and the other Founders.

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