Posted: Thursday, July 23, 2015 12:00 am

Our View: Gift or heist? Tax plan needs rethinking

As an image-changer, this one is pretty good. Who’d expect a Republican to rob the rich and give to the poor?

But that’s what N.C. Senate Majority Leader Harry Brown wants to do. The target of his holdup plan is the wealthy counties that generate the lion’s share of state sales tax revenue.

Under the state’s formula for the local-option portion of sales-tax proceeds, 75 percent goes to the county and city where the sale takes place. And 25 percent is distributed according to population.

Brown, an Onslow Republican, would adjust the formula over four years so that 80 percent of the money is distributed by population and only 20 percent by sale location.

This would be a glorious windfall for business-poor communities like Robeson County, whose revenue harvest would grow from $3.4 million to $8.4 million by fiscal 2020. Even Cumberland County, the retailing hub of this region, would gain about $3 million from the change.

But Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, the Triangle and the state’s most popular tourism destinations would take a painful hit that they see as devastating.

Gov. Pat McCrory, former mayor of Charlotte, says he’ll veto Brown’s bill. The governor insists that it “will cripple the economic and trade centers of our state that power our economy.” He added that, “This bill will result in a tax increase for millions of hard-working middle-class families and and small business owners throughout North Carolina.”

Brown’s retort was harsh: “I can’t figure out if Pat thinks he is the governor of Charlotte or the mayor of North Carolina.”

Senate slaps at the Republican governor are in fashion lately. Brown’s jab came a few days after Senate Rules Committee Chairman Tom Apodaca told a reporter that, “The governor doesn’t play much of a role in anything.”

It looks to us as if he’s playing a role in common sense. McCrory is right that the loss of tens of millions of dollars in sales-tax revenue will leave counties like Mecklenburg or Durham with little choice but to raise property taxes. All that commercial infrastructure takes a lot of tax money to support. Police, fire, rescue, inspections and other personnel have to be paid, and city-owned roads and bridges have to be built, paved and maintained. Sales-tax revenue helps do that. With less sales tax, and without business privilege fees – which lawmakers also took away – what’s left but property taxes?

Brown’s plan needs rethinking. It’s nice to see a Republican Robin Hood, but he’s courting some unintended consequences.

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Thursday, July 23, 2015 12:00 am.

El Paso County Commissioner Sallie Clark this month became president of the National Association of Counties. Clark, of Colorado Springs, is the first Colorado commissioner to ever hold the post. (Provided by NACo/Sallie Clark)

As the daughter of a mayor, Sallie Clark answered plenty of calls at home from people wanting to talk to her dad about barking dogs and garbage pickup and potholes, but she never thought she’d go into politics.

“I was really shy growing up and I didn’t like to talk to people,” she said. “Obviously, I’ve gotten over that.”

Obviously.

Clark, an El Paso County commissioner, this month became president of the National Association of Counties — the first Colorado commissioner ever elected to the post. For the next month, she’ll do a lot of talking as she travels the country.

“It’s so important to have a strong voice for counties on issues that impact our citizens and local government,” she said. “NACo is focused on pushing back against unfunded federal mandates and over-regulation.”

Seal Beach Mayor Thomas Blackman and his daughter, Sallie, in the 1970s. (Provided by Sallie Clark)

Clark was born in Long Beach, Calif., in 1959 to Thomas and Barbara Blackman. Her dad taught in the Long Beach public school district for 40 years and served as mayor of Seal Beach in the 1970s.

During his tenure, the city built a fire station and a police station, put bike trails on the highway and oversaw a downtown renovation project. She noted that those issues still resonate today. Her father, she said, “really believed in the vision of communities and how government could help build communities.”

Thomas Blackman grew up in Pueblo and Clark spent summers on her grandmother’s chicken farm outside the city. When she and Welling Clark married in 1980, they spent a part of their honeymoon in Colorado.

“I’ve always loved Colorado,” she said.

After her husband retired from the Navy, the couple moved to Colorado Springs in 1985 and opened up the Holden House 1902 Bed and Breakfast. Clark sat on the Colorado Travel and Tourism Authority Board, and helped start a statewide bed-and-breakfast association.

She became a neighborhood activist when the city manager and the fire chief proposed closing Fire Station No. 3 on West Colorado Avenue. She became president of the Organization of Westside Neighbor, which was successful in keeping the station open.

El Paso County Commissioner Sallie Clark takes the oath of office as president of the National Association of Counties at its annual meeting in Charlotte, N.C., in July. Her husband, Welling Clark, is behind her. (Provided by NACo and Clark)

Clark ran for mayor of Colorado Springs in 1999 and lost, then successfully ran for the City Council. She again tried for mayor, in 2003, and lost, and then was elected county commissioner in 2004.

“I love this job — although maybe not every day,” Clark said, with a laugh. “You have to make decisions and somebody is going to be unhappy. Sometimes both sides are unhappy. But the job has allowed me to do all kinds of things, especially on issues relating to preventing child abuse and neglect, public health and public safety issues.”

Among those who praise Clark’s efforts is state Rep. Pete Lee, a Colorado Springs Democrat. Clark is a Republican.

“Sallie Clark is clearly one of the hardest working public servants in El Paso County,” he said said. “She digs in. She is completely energized and that’s important.”

On the gubernatorial campaign trail in 2010, Clark frequently was mentioned as a likely running mate for Republican Scott McInnis, but he lost the primary. If at one time she didn’t like talking to people, it didn’t come across when she stumped for McInnis.

“I’ve talked to a lot of women in government and many say they were shy growing up,” Clark said. “But then something enthusiastically gets us, we’re on a mission and we forget all that shyness, leave it behind and move forward with whatever we have to do.”