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14 <br /> fees or taxes currently allocated to the counties or to erode existing county revenue <br /> streams; <br /> 31)Re-instatement of Earned Income Tax Credit — Support legislation to re-instate the <br /> State Earned Income Tax Credit which greatly benefitted low wage earners until its <br /> elimination after the 2013 tax year; <br /> 32)Homestead Exemption — Support revisions to the Homestead Exemption provisions of <br /> the Machinery Act to: <br /> a) provide greater opportunities for low-income seniors to remain in their homes <br /> and not be displaced due to property tax burdens by approving a one-time ten <br /> percent (10%) increase in the base income qualification standard; and <br /> maintaining the current provisions which increase the income qualification <br /> standard each year based on any cost-of-living adjustment made to the benefits <br /> under Titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act for the preceding calendar year; <br /> and <br /> b) diminish the discriminatory features of the current exemption provisions relating <br /> to married couples by establishing graduated income qualification standards for <br /> single individuals versus married couples; <br /> 33)Sales Tax Distribution Formula — Support legislation directing that all sales tax be <br /> distributed on a per capita basis as it is fair and more equitable for counties with less <br /> economic development as compared to the point of delivery basis. The UNC School of <br /> Government has indicated that a per capita basis tax "would indeed be a more even <br /> distribution of LOST revenue across the state"; <br /> 34)Machinery Act — Support local governments' need for more flexibility to remedy <br /> measurement and/or condition property appraisal errors related to local property tax <br /> functions. North Carolina property tax law substantially limits the ability of local <br /> governments to address property tax discrepancies, such as prohibiting the refund of <br /> prior years' taxes paid after a measurement and/or condition property appraisal error is <br /> discovered. Just as local governments can recoup prior years' property taxes from <br /> owners for "discoveries", local governments should likewise be authorized to refund prior <br /> years' taxes paid when situations such as measurement and/or condition property <br /> appraisal errors are discovered; <br /> 35)Agriculture — Support Conservation of Working Lands and Farmland Preservation <br /> — Support a revision to the revenue and acreage requirements of the Use Value <br /> Program to reduce acreage requirements, balanced by increasing the income threshold; <br /> PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT <br /> 36)Bona Fide Farm Use — Support legislation clarifying that the farm use and agriculture <br /> exemption of 153A-340 that restricts local zoning authority applies only to property on <br /> which the production of crops or livestock is the primary use. Clarify that marketing and <br /> agri-tourism activities must be secondary uses of the property and do not qualify for the <br /> exemption in the absence of the production of crops or livestock; <br />