AG 1998 12 21 - Laserfiche WebLink

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· PROPOSED CHANGES POLICY STATEMENT ON TAXATION AND FINANCE Introduction The North Carolina Association of County Commissioners establishes as a principle the goal of providing control of essential public services at the level of government most capable of delivering them. In order for counties to be effective partners with the state and federal governments, county commissioners must have the authority to generate optional revenues at the local level which are sufficient to meet public service needs and which are responsive to economic change. The county tax base should be broad and balanced, permitting county governments to raise revenues from various sources rather than being overly dependent on any single revenue source. A proper balance of service responsibility and revenue raising authority is imperative for effective governance by counties. Any restructuring of responsibilities assigned to counties should be coupled with restructuring of local revenue sources to meet those responsibilities. Refining Mandates and Financing County officials recognize their responsibilities to carry out policies formulated by the General Assembly. State policy makers should recog'nize the limitations of the county revenue base and the variations in revenue producing capabilities among counties and should not mandate [mandating] programs requiring county financial participation. The division of responsibilities for financing mandated pro.aras should be drawn as follows: Where the state has mandated county financing in broad terms, permitting county commissioners discretion as to the level of service to be provided, counties should have the primary responsibility for financing. In those cases where the General Assembly has deemed that a minimum or basic service should be equally available to ail state residents the state should have the Financing responsibility. County financial participation should be limited to sharing the administrative costs of the pro=ox-am. Those services initiated by the federal government to provide income maintenance for all citizens should be financed by the federal government. The Mix of County Revenue The property tax system is the mainstay of the county tax base. Therefore, the Association recognizes tile importance of efforts to make the property tax system more efficient and equitable. At the same time, the Association will seek to broaden and diversify the county tax base to include appropriate optional sources. In the past several years, the property tax base has been eroded by exemptions and exclusions by the General Assembly, seemingly without regard to the effects on local government revenues. If counties are expected to participate as partners with the State in providing a variety of services and the facilities to house these functions, they must have access to diverse revenue sources that are responsive to economic change and equitable in terms of impact on residents. Therefore, the Association will seek optional sources of revenues with the goals of systematically broadening and diversifying the sources of tax revenue which are at the disposal of county officials. The Association will be guided by the following principles in this effort: Counties should have authority to generate optional revenues sufficient to meet their responsibilities, especially those pro.ams already mandated by the state and federal governments. However, new taxing authority should not be seen as encouragement for new state and federal mandates. State-mandated programs for basic or minimum services should be funded from -over-