• 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

    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…
  • John Locke Update

    Sales Tax Referenda: Coming to a Ballot Near You

    posted March 28, 2018 by Julie Tisdale
    With six weeks to go until the May primaries, voters in at least a dozen North Carolina counties should start considering whether they should vote for or against proposed…
  • John Locke Update

    Twelve Counties Ask Voters to Approve Higher Taxes

    posted March 22, 2018 by Julie Tisdale
    At last count, 12 North Carolina counties will include an increase in the local sales tax on their May ballots.  In all 12 of those counties, it’s a bad idea. …
  • John Locke Update

    The Perils of Increasing Local Sales Taxes

    posted March 14, 2018 by Julie Tisdale
    In 2007, the North Carolina General Assembly passed legislation allowing counties to impose an additional quarter-cent sales tax to raise revenue within their jurisdictions.  These taxes must be approved by…
  • John Locke Update

    Elected Officials Should Make Tax Decisions

    posted May 3, 2017 by Julie Tisdale
    In 2007, the North Carolina General Assembly approved a local option sales tax for counties.  Essentially, it allowed counties to impose an additional quarter-cent sales tax if it was approved…

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