Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
Attachment 2 <br />Orange County 2017 Federal Legislative Proposals <br />(Items with a “**” were included in NCACC’s 2017-2018 Federal Legislative List in some Capacity) <br />Support Remote Sales Tax Collection ** Note: Resolved by Supreme Court Decision. <br />A 2013 Study by IHS Global Insight indicates that Federal, State and local governments lose $1.6 Billion <br />in Remote Sales Tax Collections. This study indicates that Orange County, NC loses approximately $1.5 <br />million annually from remote sales tax transactions. The U.S. Supreme Court held (8-1) in Quill Corp. v <br />North Dakota (1992) that a seller must have physical presence (nexus) in a state in order for that state to <br />require the seller to collect sales and use taxes. State, local governments and affiliated government <br />associations have attempted to obtain Federal passage of the Marketplace Fairness Act which would <br />allow state and local governments to enforce existing state and local sales and use tax laws on remote <br />retailers if they simplify tax administration by adopting the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement <br />(an agreement among 24 State governments). North Carolina is one of the 24 States that is a party to <br />the Streamlined Tax agreement. Untaxed remote sales provides an unfair competitive advantage to <br />Internet based retailers over “Main Street” retailers that must impose and collect sales taxes which <br />support public safety, transportation and education service delivery for our residents. A small seller <br />exception would exclude a retailer that has total remote sales in the U.S. less than $1,000,000 in a <br />calendar year. <br /> <br />Protect TANF And Social Services Block Grants ** <br />TANF supplemental funds have been made available since the 1996 inception of the TANF welfare <br />reform initiative to level-set TANF federal payments. The TANF basic grant formula over-compensated <br />those states with high welfare family payments. North Carolina was penalized for having a conservative <br />welfare policy with low cash assistance payments, time-limited benefits and an emphasis on work and <br />personal responsibility. To address these formula inequities, the supplemental program was initiated for <br />the 17 states being under-funded by the TANF basic grant formula. Authorization for TANF supplemental <br />grants expired April 2011. N.C.’s share at $36 million represents 11 percent of total TANF funding. <br />Counties use these federal dollars to provide county child protective services and for work supports such <br />as childcare and job training. <br />The Social Services Block Grant is the only revenue available to support numerous mandated or essential <br />services provided by local departments of social services. In many counties, including Orange, these <br />funds support adult protective services, in-home services, adoption services and foster care for children. <br />This is a critical funding stream to support local services and should be preserved if not expanded. <br /> <br />Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program <br />The budget for this program for rental assistance has remained stagnant over the last eight years with <br />each year’s allocation plus/minus five (5) percent of the previous year. Likewise, under 2013 <br />sequestration measures, the level of funding for administration of the program has remained stagnant <br />5