For some government officials, there is a constant effort to expand government and impose higher taxes and fees to pay for it all. Writing today at CarolinaJournal.com, JLF’s Sarah Curry profiles the seven North Carolina counties that are asking voters to raise the sales tax rate by 1/4 cent to pay for bigger government.
While many local governments claim they will collect the tax for a specific purpose, that is not permissible by law. Any revenue generated from the local-option, quarter-cent sales tax is considered general revenue and can be spent on anything in the county’s budget.
County commissioners typically pledge to spend the tax revenue on a specific area of the budget, but there is no legally binding way to ensure that will happen. Rather, each governing board can decide where to spend the money — regardless of the promises made to voters in the referendum campaign.
While knowing the money cannot be earmarked, each of the six counties pushing referendums on the November ballot has listed items that county officials have decided warrant a sales tax increase. Below is each county’s reasoning. But remember: Regardless of what county officials say, there is no guarantee about where the money actually will be spent.
