Key facts:
- Between December 2007 and December 2010, private-sector employment shrank 9.1 percent, while state and local government payrolls grew 4.2 percent.
- North Carolina’s per-capita personal income climbed in the 1990s and nearly equaled the national average in 1998. Incomes in North Carolina have fallen compared with the nation as a whole in the dozen years since then.
- Educational achievement also accelerated in the 1990s with growth unmatched since then.
- Higher spending since then has not translated into better returns on investment for North Carolina taxpayers.
- This budget proposal would spend $18.4 billion and return spending to the same levels, adjusted for population and inflation, as in the mid-1990s.
- In addition to ending the temporary sales tax and income tax surcharges, this budget would reduce the tax rates on personal and corporate income, setting the stage for future tax reform.
- A detailed spreadsheet of the recommendations offered here is available at http://tinyurl.com/JLF2012NCBudget.
Spotlight 408 Protecting Families and Businesses: A Plan for Fiscal Balance and Economic Growth
