Tara Servatius again tries to get the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce to put down its pom-poms long enough to note that the local business climate could be better. Much better. The crux:
UNC Charlotte economist John Connaughton recently told Creative Loafing that he thinks new businesses are still moving to the area, but that they are increasingly locating outside Mecklenburg County. There’s no regional body that measures the trend for the surrounding area, he says, so there are no exact figures.
It makes sense. For the last six years in a row, Charlotte ranked first in the state in taxes and fees per person, and number one for local government costs, according to a John Locke Foundation study.
The Chamber likes to brush off this study every year with claims that taxes here are “fair,” ignoring the fact that the Chamber’s own survey of business owners indicated that taxes are their number one concern.
I’ve long said that company executives will pay higher taxes for better government. Here, they are paying higher taxes for faltering government services.
Not only that, basic services are faltering as we shower money and attention on $500 million trains, a $265 million arena, a $150 NASCAR Hall of Fame, a $160 million Wachovia Arts Tower, a $35 million baseball stadium, on and on.
Chamber president Bob Morgan would do his members and the city at-large a big favor if he would dial back the civic rah-rah from a roar to a clamor and turn up the advocacy for low taxes and frugal, effective government. In fact, any word from Morgan and the Chamber on local fiscal issues that does involve a “rah” or a “rah” would be very welcome.
Quit telling people how wonderful Charlotte is — we know that. But it won’t be wonderful for long if local government spending continues on its current flight path to the Moon.
