Agenda - 09-06-2012 - 7b - Laserfiche WebLink

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60 NCACC Taxation and Finance Policy Statement Guiding Principles • The level of government most capable of delivering public services should provide them. • Counties must have sufficient revenue authority and options to meet public service needs. • Counties must have access to a broad and balanced revenue base. • The state should not mandate programs requiring county financial participation, and state- generated revenues should fund basic state services. • The state should provide timely and tailored information to sustain county revenue,budget and financial management integrity. Introduction The North Carolina Association of County Commissioners believes that the level of government most capable of delivering essential public services should be responsible for providing them. In order for counties to be effective partners with the state and federal governments, counties must have the authority to generate optional local revenues that are sufficient to meet public service needs while being responsive to economic change. The county revenue base should be broad and balanced, permitting counties to raise revenues from various sources rather than being overly dependent on any single revenue source or overly burdensome on any one group of taxpayers. A proper balance of service responsibility and revenue-raising authority is imperative for effective county governance.Any restructuring of county responsibilities should be coupled-with a restructuring of local revenue sources to meet those responsibilities. County Revenue Authority The property tax system is the mainstay of the county revenue base and the Association will continue efforts to make the property tax system more efficient and equitable.The Association will also seek to broaden and diversify the county revenue base to include appropriate optional sources that are responsive to economic change and equitable in terms of impact on residents. The Association believes that county revenue authority should reflect the following: • Counties should have authority to generate optional revenues sufficient to meet their responsibilities, especially for those programs already mandated by the state and federal governments. • New taxing authority should not be seen as encouragement for new state and federal mandates. • The Association opposes the redistribution of existing revenues, and no redistribution of new tax sources should be implemented without assessing taxpayer equity as reflected by local needs,local funding efforts,and local funding capability. • The General Assembly should reimburse from state sources individual county and city losses if statewide policy objectives necessitate reductions in local tax bases. • The General Assembly should recognize that county funding obligations do not diminish when local revenue base exemptions and exclusions are granted to specific groups and county