THE CHOICE IS NOT HIGH TAXES OR HIGHER TAXES
JLF's budget analysis finds the cuts the state's budget writers miss

Could there be a more important time than now for state policymakers finally to break North Carolina's spend-and-tax cycle? A severe recession has left a "budget hole" that state lawmakers are trying to fix with the only tool they know how: taxes. But people all over North Carolina are trying to fill their own budget holes — lawmakers are hardly alone in having to make tough choices with a smaller budget. Unlike citizens, however, lawmakers have the legal ability to take money from people, and their approach to this year's budget problem has been typical: just raise taxes. Analysts at the John Locke Foundation, North Carolina's leading think tank, show the dangerous folly of choosing that route and point the way out with a new budget that address immediate as well as long-term concerns.

Final N.C. budget plan needs no tax hike

RALEIGH -- State budget negotiators can scrap proposed tax and fee increases while still avoiding the most drastic budget cuts they've threatened to make during the past few weeks. The John Locke Foundation's chief budget analyst explains how in his new "Can-Do Budget."

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Rising N.C. unemployment numbers should squelch talk of tax hikes

RALEIGH -- Continued bad unemployment news should prompt North Carolina lawmakers to rethink plans for raising taxes. That's the assessment of a John Locke Foundation analyst with a Ph.D. in economics.

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Ending federal death tax could create 42,000 N.C. jobs

RALEIGH -- North Carolina could add more than 42,000 jobs at no cost to taxpayers if the federal government got rid of its estate tax. That figure is based on research associated with a new report from the Washington, D.C.-based American Family Business Foundation.

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Public school personnel

N.C. schools add administrative and support staff faster than students

RALEIGH -- North Carolina's public schools have added administrators, consultants, and other nonclassroom staffers faster than they've added students this decade. That's a key finding in a new John Locke Foundation Spotlight report.

N.C. teacher compensation: $4,000 higher than the national average

When adjusted for pension contributions, teacher experience, and cost of living, N.C.’s adjusted average teacher compensation is $59,252, which is $4,086 higher than the U.S. adjusted average compensation — 14th highest in the nation.

Eminent Domain and Annexation

Simple bill change would help prevent eminent domain abuse

RALEIGH -- Legislators can prove that they care as much about people as they do about open space, if they make a simple change to an eminent domain bill moving through the General Assembly. That's the assessment a John Locke Foundation expert offers in his latest Spotlight report.

Real annexation reform requires meaningful services, legitimate oversight

RALEIGH -- Lawmakers seeking real reform of the state's flawed annexation law should tackle two critical issues that were not addressed properly in a study group's final report. That's the assessment of a John Locke Foundation analyst.