Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines is concerned about Sen. Tony Rand’s proposal to provide Medicaid relief to counties.
Rand’s bill would have the state take on all Medicaid costs, but would also allow the state to keep sales tax revenue, presumably to help offset those costs. Counties would have the option of raising the sales tax, but if Forsyth elected not to do so, then cities’ sales tax revenue would be frozen with no relief in sight:
The losses for Winston-Salem could total $840,000 in fiscal year 2007-08, and $2.39 million in 2008-09, budget officials said. Over the next six years, the city could lose nearly $13 million.
“We are sympathetic to the Medicaid problem faced by the N.C. counties, but solving it this way creates a huge problem for cities,” Joines said.
It might not be too good for the taxpayers, either, as Forsyth Sen. Pete Brunstetter pointed out in an e-mail to Joines:
“I am with you on it Allen. Tony is pretty confident of the solution, so it will be a tough battle. He sees that local governments will have no choice but to add their own optional penny … so he doesn’t see any downside for local governments. Of course, that doesn’t help the taxpayer,” Brunstetter wrote.
