subject: Raleigh Tax Debt Help [print this page] The city of Raleigh, North Carolina, has tax problems. The city has not seen its tax indebtedness rise to the level that will cause its credit rating to plummet according to state guidelines, but it does have a serious tax burden which must be solved for the benefit of taxpayers in the city and state.
Because the city experienced unanticipated rapid population and geographic growth and had to enhance its infrastructure in order to properly serve its citizens, it had to incur additional debt in order to cover these necessary expenditures and keep pace with citizen population growth. Because there were not sufficient tax revenues to off-set this unplanned growth, the city now finds itself in a difficult predicament with rising taxes as a result.
The high incidence of home and commercial foreclosures, reflective of the nation's current and ongoing economic downturn, have made the tax revenue shortage even more acute as the city government struggles to raise revenue to completely fund needed ongoing projects. Despite this revenue shortfall, the Raleigh property tax level is one of the lowest in the state.
A good bit of the spending responsible for the high tax bill has been a result of authorization by city government, and not the result of bond referendums, which many of the residents say they would have preferred. That practice would at least have given them some say in how the money was spent prior to its expenditure.
Currently, the statewide recommendation in North Carolina is to reduce its debt level across the board. That recommendation would be well received by the citizens of Raleigh, although the city's debt total falls well below the amount allowed by the state.
Many of the monies owed are covered by funds which have already been earmarked for such purpose; only a portion must be handled by sales and property tax revenues. In fact, Raleigh's economic climate for its government and tax appropriations is the most conservative of North Carolina's cities.
The attitude in Raleigh seems to be to avoid incurring further debt absent a referendum authorizing spending to improve needed city services until the current tax debt is dealt with. Raleigh's leaders want to see this tax bill paid before more debt is added to the total. And the local voters desire input into the outgo of the tax dollars in the future!
Raleigh Tax Debt Help
By: Roger Lowry
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