AG 2002 02 18 (Regular) - Laserfiche WebLink

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Robert W. Carruth 52'1 Todd Drive, NE Concord, NC 28025 February 5, 2002 Governor Michael F. Easley Office of the Governor 20301 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-0301 Dear Governor Easley, We live in very challenging times in our nation, state, and local communities. In addition to the war that we find ourselves involved in, we are also involved in one of the worst economic crises that this state has been involved in. I am writing you today to express my deep regret that you have made the decision once again this year to balance the NC state budget on the backs of the poor, the children, and the less fortunate citizens of the state of North Carolina. As an elected county commissioner here in Cabarrus County, I along with the other members of our board of commissioners will soon enter into a new budget cycle, with the unfortunate task of trying to balance our budget, while being given more and more burden from Raleigh that may not give us any choice but to raise the taxes of our hard working citizens here in Cabarrus County, just to be able to provide the basic level of services that the state government has chosen to abdicate on. I find it remarkable that many of the legislators that used nothing short of political shell games this past year to "balance" the budget, then bragged about being able to do it without raising taxes, have simply decided to ask us, the local elected officials, to pay the political price for the wasteful, pork filled spending that goes on inside the beltway. Mr. Easley, I urge you to do the right thing. To balance the budget by continuing to play the games with the numbers that have been played, will only hurt the state, and I am afraid, will cause extreme political embarrassment to the state legislature and your office. Just ask Ken Lay. Sincerely, Robert W. Carruth Cabarrus County