What to know about the constitutional amendments on your ballot
When North Carolinians vote in the upcoming election, they will be presented with two choices to limit the amount of taxes they pay. The first amendment caps the income tax for individuals and corporations at 3.5%, while the second instructs the legislature to limit the amount collected by local property taxes. These both seem like reasonable ideas. What’s the catch? With the corporate aligned, pro-polluter majority in Raleigh, anything that sounds too good to be true probably is. And anything that sounds like it is meant to benefit ordinary working families is often a cover to help out rich donors and corporate interests. In this case, it is too good to be true and rich donors and corporate interests will be the big winners.
First, consider what these taxes fund. Income taxes are the primary source of funding for state government, while property taxes are the primary source of funding for counties and towns. So any service you receive from these governments – things like clean water, clean air, schools, parks, and other necessary, local resources – is largely paid for by these taxes.
Who are the big winners?
Second, consider who the real beneficiaries are. In the case of income taxes, rate reductions to below 3.5 percent have sent $2 out of $3 to the richest 20 percent of North Carolinians and on the corporate side $9 out of $10 out of state to primarily highly paid executives and shareholders.
With the property tax levy limit, a recent report by the NC Housing Coalition, a nonprofit housing advocacy group, estimates that counties and municipalities would have lost nearly $1 billion for essential services if a 2% levy limit had been in place during the most recent revaluation cycle. Meanwhile, the average homeowner would have only saved $7 a month or $84 a year. But Duke Energy would have saved $10 million, and several data centers more than $1 million each, according to the coalition’s analysis.
Plus, the legislature can also still give exemptions. Any guesses on who might get those exemptions?
Why give Raleigh the power to make more decisions?
Remember how the pro-polluter majority spent most of the past two years not passing a budget? Remember when the pro-polluter majority took away the Governor’s authority to appoint a majority of the NC Utilities Commission and took away his control of the State Board of Elections under the guise of Hurricane Helene relief? Why would we take decisions that have always been made locally and give them to elected officials in Raleigh who demonstrate again and again that they care more about power and corporate interests than the interests of voters?
Take the pledge
Pledge to vote against these constitutional amendments in the upcoming election. Then, invite your friends to do the same.