The latest Center for Local Innovation report on what local government costs in North Carolina confirms what Chapel Hill residents know, and what residents of other cities and town suspect.
From the news release announcing results of the annual By The Numbers report comes the sobering information about Chapel Hill:
Local taxes and fees surpassed $2,194 per person in Chapel Hill during the 2007 budget year, as the Orange County town ranked No. 3 among North Carolina’s largest municipalities in per capita local government costs. A new report from the Center for Local Innovation also ranks Cary No. 4, Durham No. 7, and Raleigh No. 11.
You can read the entire report, and assess how your city/town and county stack up against the rest of the state here.
One note: As you see above, Durham comes in at number 7. Last week I spoke to a longtime resident of Durham who said his neighborhood is experiencing a massive influx of couples from Chapel Hill, who tell him they can no longer afford, or simply got tired of, paying so much in local taxes and fees. Chapel Hill is nice, they tell him, but not that nice.
