The number of Republican-controlled county commissions jumped from 56 to 61 this year. However, slightly more than half North Carolinians now live in counties with Democratic boards.
North Carolina’s effort to rewrite the state’s criminal code continues making gradual progress. The House Rules Committee recently issued a favorable report on Senate Bill 584, the latest legislative step in recodification efforts championed by criminal justice reform advocates and members of the General Assembly. Senate Bill 584, if passed, would require more oversight on...
They had resisted the notion that North Carolina politics might take an unmistakable turn to the right. Now they have no choice but to adjust to it.
GREENVILLE — Even in a struggling economy, local tax measures in the Tar Heel State have fared well. Of the nine counties that have held tax elections so far this year, only two have failed. At least nine more counties have a quarter-cent sales tax referendum on the Nov. 2 ballot.
Whether it would be the result of an encroachment by Washington or a self-inflicted wound by the General Assembly, public-sector unionism would be a calamity for our state.
There are two sets of local results in North Carolina that deserve particular attention on Election Night.
RALEIGH — Local budgets around the state are nearly $7.9 million fatter this year than anticipated, thanks to a state program that deducts from state tax refunds the past-due bills owed by residents to cities and counties. Nearly 46,000 people have been forced to pay off 55,882 debts over the last six months when the Department of Revenue matched their Social Security numbers to bills owed to nearly 200 local governments.
Democrats won a net gain of three NC county commissions in 2004, including Mecklenburg. Local politics is more competitive than it used to be — and a good place to spot important trends.
Durham County imposed an impact fee on homebuyers to build schools despite a lack of legal authority to do so. Now other counties are being urged to endorse Durham's action.
