RALEIGH, NC (WECT) –
One of the main sponsors of a bill proposing to redistribute sales tax revenue in North Carolina is responding to Governor Pat McCrory’s threat to veto the legislation.
Sen. Harry Brown (R-Onslow) said in a statement that more than 100 local leaders from across North Carolina are in support of Senate Bill 369, which is designed to help rural counties by distributing sales tax revenue based on population instead of where the sale of goods occurs. He called McCrory’s response a “tone-deaf response to their overwhelming support is doubling down on a 2007 sales tax policy change that kicked rural North Carolina in the teeth.”
“I can’t figure out if Pat thinks he is the Governor of Charlotte or the Mayor of North Carolina,” Brown said in an email news release. “Pat has spent 85 percent of our incentive money in the three richest urban counties and passed a transportation plan that diverts road money away from rural areas to urban areas, so it is hard to take his idea to help rural North Carolina by doing more of the same seriously. I have repeatedly asked the governor for a real plan to help the more than 80 counties across the state that benefit from the Sales Tax Fairness Act, and I am still waiting on his response.”
“This bill will result in a tax increase for millions of hard working middle-class families and small business owners throughout North Carolina,” Governor McCrory said in the email news release announcing the veto threat. “Redistribution and hidden tax increases are liberal tax and spend principles of the past that simply don’t work. More importantly, this bill will cripple the economic and trade centers of our state that power our economy.”
McCrory also plugged his proposed bond referendum, seeking nearly $3 billion for projects across North Carolina.
“The best thing the Senate and General Assembly can do for less the populated areas across our state is to pass and allow us to implement the NC Competes jobs strategy which will benefit travel and tourism, agriculture, manufacturing and nearly every economic sector in our state,” McCrory’s statement continued. “The General Assembly must also pass the Connect NC bond program so North Carolina voters can decide this November on projects that will build roads, improve our universities and community colleges, state parks and build the infrastructure North Carolina needs to grow jobs.”
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