• John Locke Update

    Should Local Governments Get to Choose their Voters?

    posted October 21, 2019 by Joseph Coletti
    November may be the best time to buy a major kitchen appliance, but counties know it is the worst time to ask voters to raise taxes, especially when there…
  • John Locke Update

    Mecklenburg Sales Tax: The Art of the Steal

    posted July 2, 2019 by Joseph Coletti
    You have to admire the audacity of Robert Bush and the Arts and Science Council (ASC) for their campaign to increase the sales tax in Mecklenburg County by a…
  • John Locke Update

    Should Lawmakers Grant Local Option Sales Tax Flexibility?

    posted May 14, 2019 by Joseph Coletti
    In 2011, Buncombe County commissioners and the president of the Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College promised voters that, if passed, a quarter-cent tax increase on the ballot that year would pay…
  • John Locke Update

    Broken Promises in Buncombe: A-B Tech’s Missing Money

    posted January 16, 2019 by Joseph Coletti
    Buncombe County’s financial troubles will not end with the January 16th plea hearing of former county manager Wanda Greene in federal court or payment of her $750,000 settlement with the…
  • Research Report

    Sales Tax Hike Kills Jobs: Plan Could Raise Jobless Rate, Cut Border Sales

    posted July 10, 2001 by John Hood
    A plan to increase North Carolina's sales tax by up to one penny, with a corresponding reduction in tax reimbursements to local governments, could endanger the state's economic recovery and threaten tens of thousands of jobs. No change in expected revenue growth or threat to the state's bond rating would have consequences severe enough to justify a $400 to $800 million tax hike on families and businesses whose tax burden is already the highest in the Southeast.

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