As our Representative, I will propose the following 3 step plan to aggressively energize our State forward out of this recession:
1. Complete revision of our tax code with particular attention to
reducing the corporate income tax to a competitive rate.
2. Establish North Carolina as “the location of choice”for business
relocation /expansion, for tourism and retirement.
3. Relieve the tax burden on our working people.
Attract Businesses:
In order to move Rowan County and North Carolina out of this economic disaster, we must have jobs in the private sector! Government can not and should not create jobs but it can and should create conditions favorable for businesses to grow successfully and create more job in the private sector.
If we are going to attract businesses, then we need to become fiscally attractive to the business community. We must be competitive with the other states, particularly those around us. Here is how we stand when we compare Corporate Income Tax Rates for our surrounding states:
NC - 7.11% including surtax
TN - 6.5%
GA - 6.0 %
FL - 5.5%
SC - 5.0%
We must have a complete revision of our tax code with particular attention to reducing the corporate income tax to a competitive rate. We need to review our regulatory requirements on businesses and repeal those deemed unnecessary, outdated or restrictive to business growth. We need to strictly avoide “incentive” offers to businesses. Incentives devalue our State, are unfair to existing businesses and rarely work as agreed or expected.
Job creation
The less money that the State takes from businesses, the more money businesses have to reinvest in themselves and become more successful creating more jobs and generating more revenue for the State.
Currently, Rowan County’s unemployment rate is 13.8%, significantly higher than the national average and the North Carolina state average, which is at a record 11.2%! More than 9,300 of our friends and neighbors are out of work with nowhere to turn. When Lorene Coates was elected in 2000, the unemployment was 4.5% and trending upward.
As unemployment rose, Raleigh's solution was to increase taxes for the unemployed in order to support rather than eliminate wasteful spending and pork projects. This is not only INEFFECTIVE leadership; it is insensitive to the needs of the people and couIn order to move Rowan County and North Carolina out of this economic disaster, we must have jobs in the private sector! Government can not and should not create jobs but it can and should create conditions favorable for businesses to grow successfully and create more job in the private sector.nter productive to growing the economy.
The free market creates jobs - government creates bureaucracies. We need jobs to help this economy recover, not more burdensome government growth to support.
Promote Tourism
Tourism brought $15.5 billion into our economy last year, supporting 187,000 jobs and generating over $855 million in tax revenue. North Carolina was the 6th most visited State in the union. 37% of the tourists live in North Carolina. If we were to market the State nationally promoting tourism, we would generate billions more into our economy with minimal investment. Thousands of jobs
would be created in support industries such as retail, car rentals, air and rail travel, as well as the obvious restaurant and hotel industries. All of the associated manufacturing and supply side industries that support tourism would flourish as well. Which can you think of that I might not have mentioned?
Successful marketing of the State could create hundreds of permanent jobs in such related industries as Real Estate, Banking, Clerical, manufacturing, travel, restaurant, medical and many others as businesses and people relocate to North Carolina creating demand for services and products.
Market the State
We must implement an aggressive program to market North Carolina to the rest of the nation under the direction of the State Chamber of Commerce working in close cooperation with each Economic Development Committee in the State.
Relieve the Tax Burden
We labor under the highest Personal Income Tax of any of the Southeastern States. We labor under the highest Personal Income Tax.
NC – 7.75%
SC – 7.0%
GA – 6%
VA – 5.75%
FL - 0%
TN - 0%
The solution is to BROADEN our TAX BASE instead of increasing our taxes rates. The State will collect more revenue with a lower tax rate paid by more people than it will with a higher tax rate on a few.
