Financing the Future

North Carolina’s economy and population have changed dramatically over the last century, yet our financial systems have remained relatively stagnant.

We need a tax system that provides sufficient revenues as North Carolina struggles to find sustainable revenue streams for the fundamental goods and services it provides, even as demand for these services are set to explode in the years ahead.

We also need a tax system that is fair and competitive.  While the overall tax burden is relatively low, state revenues depend too much on the income tax.  Personal and corporate income tax rates are often higher than our neighbors, and sales tax rates are also high because the base is seriously eroded.  As a result, revenues are volatile, and the system is not fair. 

Financing the Future is a multi-year program of work geared toward building a tax system for North Carolina that is competitive, stable, adequate and fair, so allowing us to prosper in the 21st Century economy. 

Since beginning the program in 2005, IEI’s goal has been to offer a model agenda for action in the 2009 legislative session. As 2009 quickly approaches, it brings with it a new governor, a new legislative leadership and a renewed commitment to North Carolina’s future growth and prosperity. IEI will present its final recommendations for fiscal modernization, cultivated through its model public policy process, to North Carolina’s leaders with every expectation that they turn those ideas into action.