From my days as WCHL news director, I distinctly remember the annual Orange County budget process.
The county manager presented a budget — usually calling for a tax increase. Dozens of taxpayers showed up at public hearings to complain. They didn’t complain about the tax increase. They complaned that the tax increase was too low!
Almost all of the complaints came from parents with kids in Chapel Hill-Carrboro scools. Those parents tried to convince county commissioners that schools needed more money. While most of them rambled on aimlessly, the bottom-line message was: “Raise my taxes even more than you already planned to raise them!”
That’s why this article surprised me. It seems some taxpayers have noticed that the annual 2-cent, 3-cent, 6-cent increases add up to real money.
