Charlotte

RALEIGH – Charlotte still tops North Carolina’s list of cities with the highest local government costs, according to a new report from the Raleigh-based Center for Local Innovation. But…

Since the late 1980s, housing prices in North Carolina have increased rapidly in some cities while in others prices have grown more slowly. Asheville and Wilmington, for example, are known for large increases in their housing prices over the last 15 years, while in Fayetteville and Hickory housing prices have grown much more slowly. Why is this?

Homebuyers in two North Carolina cities pay thousands of dollars in extra costs, thanks to aggressive growth management plans. That’s the key finding in a new Policy Report from…

It’s time for the state to put the brakes on funding for public transit systems across North Carolina. That’s a major recommendation in a new Policy Report prepared for…

RALEIGH – Local taxes and fees in Charlotte totaled about $2,185 per resident in 2004, ranking North Carolina’s largest city No. 1 for local government costs among major cities for…

RALEIGH – Weeks before a school-bond vote in Mecklenburg County that could result in another local tax increase, the John Locke Foundation today released a Citizen’s Guide to Local Spending…

City and county government cost on average $3,804 per capita in Charlotte during fiscal year 2004, from July 2003 to July 2004. This was 28.1 percent higher than the $2,969 (constant 2004 dollars) per capita spent in fiscal year 1994. For comparison, real per capita personal income increased just 13 percent over the same period, from $24,926 to $28,235. Most of the increased expenditures were for operations, which climbed 23.2 percent to $2,766 in fiscal 2004. Char-Meck’s high capital spending climbed 43 percent over the decade, to $1,038 in fiscal 2004.

Multi-million dollar bond referendums and tax increases will not repair the damage done by years of inadequate school facilities planning. With construction and labor costs rising, massive school building programs, such as the one proposed by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS), will exert a crippling tax burden on local communities.

RALEIGH – The proposed $427 million school bond in Charlotte-Mecklenburg would fund facilities that are far more expensive than in comparable districts and ignores alternative ways to build schools at…

CHARLOTTE – Taxes, schools, crime, traffic congestion – these are just some the issues at the forefront of public debate in Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, and many surrounding communities. They will…