Rick Henderson, Carolina Journal editor-in-chief, discusses a controversy in the Beaufort County, N.C.. community of Terra Ceia over a planned 600-acre solar facility. Henderson offered these comments during an interview with Donna Martinez for Carolina Journal Radio.
For North Carolina counties, fiscal 2018 starts July 1, meaning counties have to pass and publish budgets. They also have to set property tax rates for the coming year, which are really important for county governments. The most obvious reason is property taxes make up just more than half of…
The number of state employees and retirees purchasing Medicare Advantage plans might rise from 111,000 to 130,000 in the coming year, but they are facing as much as a 26 percent increase in their premiums. That was the message from state Treasurer Dale Folwell on Tuesday during his monthly “Ask…
Jeanne Van Staalduinen teaches at Terra Ceia Christian School in Beaufort County. Four generations of her family have been involved with the modest school, tucked neatly in an austere wedge of this historic slice of North Carolina, about 18 miles east of Washington. It’s a place not far from where…
From Carolina Journal Radio Program No. 733: High Point is the latest North Carolina city considering spending millions of dollars for a downtown baseball stadium. Julie Tisdale, the John Locke Foundation’s city and county policy analyst, considers herself a fanatic baseball supporter. But Tisdale questions the wisdom of investing…
The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down congressional election maps North Carolina used in 2012 and 2014. The justices agreed, 5-3, with a lower court that ruled two of the election districts were unconstitutional cases of racial gerrymandering. Rick Henderson, Carolina Journal editor-in-chief, assesses the impact of the Supreme Court’s…
While teacher salaries generally dominate employee benefit discussions during budget debates, other state employees stand to receive higher pay. But the House, Senate, and Gov. Roy Cooper all have different notions about how much to increase compensation. Cooper’s budget includes an across-the-board salary increase of 2 percent or $800, whichever is higher.
The House budget includes more than $3 billion in transportation funding each year of the biennium, in addition to the General Fund appropriations for other state operations. In 2017-18 the House budgets $2.26 billion in transportation-related taxes and fees to the Highway Fund, which pays for…
State Treasurer Dale Folwell said Friday he “will pursue all avenues of appeal” after Durham Superior Court Judge James Hardin ruled against the state in enforcing regulations against massive pension spiking by a select group of state employees. “My administration inherited this case and…
Julie Tisdale, John Locke Foundation city and county policy analyst, explains why she opposes a taxpayer-funded baseball stadium for High Point. Tisdale offered these comments during an interview with Donna Martinez for Carolina Journal Radio.
