As N.C. legislators consider plans to redistribute state sales taxes, mayors across Mecklenburg County are making sure their voices are heard.
Mayors from Matthews, Mint Hill, Pineville, Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson and Charlotte recently agreed to send a letter to legislators and Gov. Pat McCrory, expressing their thoughts and concerns about redistributing tax funds.
The majority of state sales-tax money currently is returned to counties based on where the money originated, known as the point of sale. That means a county that generates high numbers of tourism dollars or offers many retail opportunities will get a higher percentage of the money.
In an effort to boost the revenues of poorer counties, state lawmakers are considering changing the sales-tax allocation plan so, instead of returning the funds to the county from where the taxes came, the money would be distributed on a per capita basis.
Mecklenburg County mayors say the new plan would widen the financial divide between urban and rural areas.
“The legislators are trying to change the rules and the municipalities are going to be shortchanged in the process,” said Mint Hill Mayor Ted Biggers.
Matthews Mayor Jim Taylor said that even though one of the plans may bring more money to Matthews, the proposed sales-tax redistribution is a bad idea.
“Under (one proposal), Matthews would lose a heck of a lot,” Taylor said. “Under Sen. (Bob) Rucho’s plan, we could end up with more. But I think that, either way, philosophically it’s not the right thing to do. Robbing Peter to pay Paul is not good for North Carolina.
“All seven of us have the same view – whether we come out winners or losers, it’s not the right thing to do. Just giving the rural counties money will not solve the problem,” Taylor said.
Pineville Mayor Jack Edwards agrees: “It’s a horrible idea,” he said. “The reason for the redistribution is wrong. What we are doing is making more of a split between the urban and rural areas rather than working together to bring them the businesses they need. The effort is going the wrong way.
“It almost seems like it’s an attack against the towns and cities in all aspects. They are taking away the revenue we can use but expecting us to do more and more with less.”
Edwards said that with the end of the business-privilege license tax and the proposed sales-tax redistribution, Pineville is set to lose about 11 percent of its budgeted revenue.
Huntersville Mayor Jill Swain, who helped organize the seven mayors and spearheaded the letter effort, said that instead of sales-tax redistribution, the state needs to come up with a plan to help all counties prosper.
“This is not helping the state. We need to have a vision of how our entire state can be successful,” Swain said. “There shouldn’t be winners and losers. Our competition should be other states. We, as an entire state, should be whole and healthy so that we can recruit businesses, have more job opportunities, better education opportunities and more vibrant communities.”
“We are mayors of different community sizes and mayors of different political leanings. It should be significant that we are in unity on this issue.”
Melinda Johnston is a freelance writer. Have a story idea for Melinda? Email her at m.johnston@carolina.rr.com.
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