Citizens Call Hand Of Legislators’ Ploy

Recently the debate on increasing the tax burden on the hard working families of North Carolina has taken a disingenuous turn. Those who support higher taxes are trying to fool the people into believing they are not raising taxes when, in fact, they are.

NEWS & OBSERVER, Saturday, July 14, 2001, “Goal is Balance”

“A local-option sales tax is the most frequently mentioned of several tax options that House leaders will test in the House. The proposal would give cities and counties the option of raising the local sales tax by a half-penny. It would generate as much as $330 million annually for the state, because if local governments get that money, the state would no longer reimburse the cities and counties for two taxes it ended years ago: the intangibles tax and the inventory tax.”

“The people clearly see this crafty ploy for what it is,” said Jonathan Hill, director of North Carolina Citizens for a Sound Economy. “Voting for a local option sales tax with a provision that the state government withholds pledged funds from local governments is clearly a tax increase. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and sounds like a duck, it must be a duck. This is a statewide tax increase.”

“A vote in favor of this tax increase ploy is a vote against the working people of North Carolina,” Hill added. “This would also break the promise made by the majority of state legislators who agreed not to raise taxes and signed a pledge to the people of our state. We intend to hold legislators accountable to the pledge they have made.”