local government

While the federal government’s deficit and debt grow, it seems families and state governments have become better savers during the current recovery. North Carolina’s budget picture is improving, with revenues…

House Bill 514/Session Law 2018-3 would allow four Mecklenburg County municipalities – Cornelius, Huntersville, Matthews, and Mint Hill – to undertake the charter school application process and, if successful,…

Unphased by the recent teacher walkout, Republican lawmakers continue to invest in their policy priorities, including a fifth consecutive raise for teachers, raises for principals, expanded performance pay programs, new…

Imagine you are a middle school student called on stage in front of 75 of your friends and peers. Your teacher offers you a piece of chocolate cake but, in…

Try as I might, I can’t see the wisdom behind this proposed “transformative” projects expansion. I can’t. It’s terrible. For as long as I can remember, governors have tried…

When Major League Soccer (MLS) started play in 1996, there were 10 teams in the league and the whole undertaking faced an uncertain future. Despite the wild popularity of soccer…

In 2012, residents of Rocky Mount started hearing about plans for an event center. The city council was talking about a project that would spur downtown economic development and…

Millions Of Your Money Spent On Vanity Projects for The 1%?

The John Locke Foundation has a long-standing interest in the Map Act, which we have criticized for being “inefficient, unfair, and unnecessary.” We have repeatedly urged the General Assembly to repeal or reform it. We have also taken a keen interest in Kirby v. NCDOT and in the legal and constitutional issues that it raises.

This study surveys North Carolina’s most populous cities and examines how each conducts economic development in its jurisdiction. Collectively, they entered into 238 economic development contracts worth more than $65 million over the five-year period. Actual payments, however, totaled $20.2 million.