Like this isnt the highest taxed state in the south east already. I know Bev is gonna approve the tax hike next year. God forbid they cut spending or divert funds or not use road money for other crap like they did in the past. NC will reap what its sown by electing the so called pro middle class Dems

http://www.wral.com/traffic/story/3913732/

11/7/2008 12:36:28 AM

bloomberg wants to raise city taxes in nyc 15%.


so stfu

11/7/2008 12:38:15 AM

Shoulda voted for McCrory!!!!

God did nobody watch the debates or read about these candidates?

I mean it was okay to vote for Obama and Hagan, but Bitch Perdue? Come on.....

11/7/2008 12:38:24 AM

Oh I voted McCrory. And I didnt give a fuck about NY, this is about NC moron

11/7/2008 12:41:29 AM

Oh yeah, and McCrory wouldnt raise taxes.....I believe they are making deep cuts in spending and still need to do more. I just read NC is one of like three or four doing extreme cutting and STILL coming up short.

It is the Charlotte mayor curse....

be prepared for the gas tax ceiling to expire....just wait until it the price goes up again.....and soon you will have to pay a $5 to use the restrooms in state buildings....

11/7/2008 12:54:30 AM

[Movin' to Canada California]

11/7/2008 12:56:23 AM

Surprise surprise

11/7/2008 12:57:10 AM

fuck nc

11/7/2008 12:58:11 AM

^^^ lol yeah, California has super cheap taxes.

Oh wait.

11/7/2008 2:19:02 AM

McCrory was the only race I was really disappointed about. I can live with Obama -- no matter how bad he fucks up, it's possible he'll have done more harm than good already. And I voted for Hagan to get that cuntrag excuse for a Senator, Dole, out of power. But Bev Perdue is a goddamn piece of furniture, to be moved out with the old inhabitants. And this coming from a guy who proudly voted for Easley.

11/7/2008 2:46:18 AM

i agree grumpy

11/7/2008 2:58:07 AM

^^^Give it time, we'll catch up.

My favorite part of Perdue's acceptance "speech" were all the references to 'change' and 'new direction[s]'. Completely laughable. It's like she was still on her campaign script.

11/7/2008 7:30:47 AM

So what you're really saying is that taxing gas isn't a direct enough way to pay for your usage of the roads? Or are you saying that you would rather redistribute the wealth by making other people pay for your usage of the roads?

11/7/2008 7:33:10 AM

I think what people would overwhelmingly say is that they use the gas tax money on things other than roads, then complain and whine when they don't have enough left over in the highway trust fund, then use the excuse of not having enough money for roads to try to convince everyone that they have a legitimate excuse to raise the gas tax.

It's like education. You can reroute the funding from that to all kinds of pet projects to the point where education is anemic and starving, then come crying to the tax payers for a few billion because, after all, education really needs your support.

Criminals.

[Edited on November 7, 2008 at 7:46 AM. Reason : -]

11/7/2008 7:45:42 AM

Quote :

"It's like education. You can reroute the funding from that to all kinds of pet projects to the point where education is anemic and starving, then come crying to the tax payers for a few billion because, after all, education really needs your support."

Ok, so where have all those billions that should have been going to education gone in this State?

If the rampant misappropriation of funds is happening like you guys are insinuating, surely SOMEONE would have figured that out by now?

Every time I see people whine and complain about the gas tax in this state, iI have to wonder if they purposefully force from their mind the fact that we have a shit ton of roads that are generally in good shape and we have pretty good schools on average.


As far as the gas tax is concerned, we probably do have some opportunities to go into the DOT and figure out where all their inefficiency is and see where we can cut some corners. What will this mean? People in the rural parts of the state will whine and complain when their roads don't get paved over as frequently as they have been. But for the majority, maybe that makes sense?

11/7/2008 9:12:15 AM

^^I think most of the money that goes to us in education is protected. When state agencies have been told to cut their budgets, education is isolated from this.

The only rampant spending that was being diverted from education was fines and fees that were being collected by many of the other departments of the state and not being sent to Dept. of Education like it was supposed to. It was $750 million over the last 12 years that has been determined we are owed for technology purchases. Its not a permanent increase in the budget, merely for us to get new equipment and upgrade the junk we have now.

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/3366504/

11/7/2008 9:34:21 AM

I voted McCory...fuck Bev

11/7/2008 9:42:04 AM

NC dems have raised taxes on us for YEARS, yet we still elect them.

11/7/2008 9:53:52 AM

^ i never got that.

NC is usually republican for national elections, but democrat for local elections.

it makes no sense at all.

11/7/2008 9:58:49 AM

It makes great sense. You want a hands off federal government and a hands on State government that will look out for your interests and establish programs that benefit you.

NC as a whole is a great place to live, hands down. Top 1 or 2 in the SE? Top 10 in the country? I'm not saying that we couldn't have done it without taxes, but it doesn't seem to have hurt.

I find it particularly interesting someone posting from RTP, established under Democratic governship, would want a republican state government.

11/7/2008 10:40:19 AM

Quote :

"The only rampant spending that was being diverted from education was fines and fees that were being collected by many of the other departments of the state and not being sent to Dept. of Education like it was supposed to. It was $750 million over the last 12 years that has been determined we are owed for technology purchases. Its not a permanent increase in the budget, merely for us to get new equipment and upgrade the junk we have now."

Bullshit. The state sales-tax was originally supposed to go only to education. it doesn't any more. And what about all of those fines and fees? Well, once the courts ruled those fees had to go to the schools, guess what the state legislature did? It cut the fucking funding for schools in each county by exactly the amount in fees the counties were owed.

Face it, education and roads are the things the NC gov't uses to bilk the taxpayers out of their hard earned cash in order to pay for pet projects

11/7/2008 8:35:16 PM

Everytime i drive out of state and see their shitty roads, you have to admit, NC does have some nice roads.

11/7/2008 8:38:32 PM

Quote :

"lol yeah, California has super cheap taxes. Oh wait."

People aren't as pissed off in Cali. Plus it has LA and Palo Alto. North Carolina has Charlotte and Cary.

11/7/2008 8:42:36 PM

the best part is that Cali is flat broke

11/7/2008 8:43:18 PM

I read that the Govenator was taking out a 15 billion dollar loan. Criminey.

11/7/2008 8:45:18 PM

^^^wtf are you talking about? Pretty much every state in the south has nice roads, and its not b/c of road tax. Its b/c we don't have harsh winters that tear up the roads.

try again.

11/7/2008 8:48:48 PM

You haven't been to Arkansas

11/7/2008 9:29:31 PM

Quote :

"Like this isnt the highest taxed state in the south east already. "

States that have a higher gas tax than North Carolina:

Montana
New York
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Washington
Wisconsin

Yeah, I guess we're pretty high

But, did you read this:

Quote :

" Foster acknowledges the gas tax is higher than other states, but says motorists are actually taxed less because there are fewer fees and other taxes that go to funding transportation needs. "When you take into consideration all the revenue sources that we collect, we're actually one of the lowest," he said."

11/7/2008 9:50:28 PM

^ That's interesting. I wonder what the other fees are.

11/7/2008 9:59:53 PM

hehe, I like it. Hey, out tax rate is higher, but our taxes really aren't higher, I promise! Sounds like a typical use of statistics to say whatever the hell you want to say

11/7/2008 10:06:57 PM

^That can go both ways, you know.

11/7/2008 10:26:39 PM

Aren't we supposedly a donor state?

how about we stop donoring and keep that shit local?

11/7/2008 10:27:22 PM

More money for the DOT, please... Papa needs a new computer at work!

11/8/2008 3:34:01 AM

Psssh the DOT needs to reinvest in some bridges across the state that are about to collapse lol.

11/8/2008 6:52:02 AM

Quote :

"Face it, education and roads are the things the NC gov't uses to bilk the taxpayers out of their hard earned cash in order to pay for pet projects"

If we are wasting billions upon billions (as seems to be insinuated by this thread) on pet projects, where did the money go? Do something you don't do for a change and back up your statements with any bit of supporting evidence.

I'm not saying it doesn't happen, just that I'd love to see a perfect example of waste on a large scale.

Quote :

"^^^wtf are you talking about? Pretty much every state in the south has nice roads, and its not b/c of road tax. Its b/c we don't have harsh winters that tear up the roads. try again."

All it takes is one good freeze to open up potholes and then cars do the rest of the work. And are you joking about the roads? Go to Virginia. You know all the nice rural side roads that get fresh asphalt soon enough and have double yellows and white lines on the side that we have here, good luck in Va. All to often you'll get some single lane non painted tar and gravel shit...and thats it.

[Edited on November 8, 2008 at 7:49 AM. Reason : x]

11/8/2008 7:46:06 AM

Quote :

"If we are wasting billions upon billions (as seems to be insinuated by this thread) on pet projects, where did the money go? Do something you don't do for a change and back up your statements with any bit of supporting evidence."

I don't know about pet projects, but I thought it was common knowledge that NCDOT is a money pit. Several studies have been in the news over the past year or so, highlighting the department's gross inefficiencies, lack of accountability, and broken processes. Some of the studies were done at NCDOT's request and came about after poor design and contruction forced them to re-construct miles of I-40.

11/8/2008 9:22:14 AM

Too many people voted straight dem....

McCrory should have won...

(i still voted libertarian though)

11/8/2008 9:41:25 AM

i agree, obama doesn't bother me much either but after watching the gov debate (which I'm sure most voters didn't) I don't see how in the world we voted that tool in.

11/8/2008 12:51:30 PM

To all of you people who voted McCrory: are you from Charlotte?

I might've voted for him if I didn't see what a bungle he can make of things (most specifically with the school board)

11/8/2008 1:14:53 PM

^I voted for McCrory and my family lives in Charlotte (I went to HS there).

Quote :

"All it takes is one good freeze to open up potholes and then cars do the rest of the work. And are you joking about the roads? Go to Virginia. You know all the nice rural side roads that get fresh asphalt soon enough and have double yellows and white lines on the side that we have here, good luck in Va. All to often you'll get some single lane non painted tar and gravel shit...and thats it."

I know exactly what one good freeze does, but 50 good freezes are still worse than one good freeze Not to mention plowing. And large portions of VA get more snow and worse winters than NC.

11/8/2008 1:35:03 PM

I did vote McCrory

11/8/2008 1:51:31 PM

name one school board that isn't messed up.

11/8/2008 2:59:07 PM

Quote :

"I know exactly what one good freeze does, but 50 good freezes are still worse than one good freeze Not to mention plowing. And large portions of VA get more snow and worse winters than NC."

You're kidding right? Va getting worse winters than NC? Umm, maybe the northern tip, but the rest of Virginia save for the mountainous areas aren't getting winters statistically worse enough to talk about their roads. Regardless, that does nothing to address my statement anyway. I didn't say the roads were littered with potholes there, I said we have nice asphalt and lined country roads where they have single lane tar and gravel rattle traps.

11/8/2008 9:45:26 PM

I just don't see that, as a society, we can't see that democratic economic theory doesn't work, ere go, the two parties should be morally conservative vs. morally liberal.

11/9/2008 1:50:48 AM

To the OP, we do not have the highest taxes in the south east, unless you devise a completely absurd definition of the southeast which excludes a lot of states that are traditionally included in the south east.


Also, in terms of automobile tax, we have one of the lowest in the country. Furthermore, the reason why North Carolina has to collect more for DOT is directly related to the State owning the majority of the roads in the State. In many states, the roads are owned by counties, or municipalities. It isn't the same way in North Carolina.

[Edited on November 9, 2008 at 1:59 PM. Reason : .]

11/9/2008 1:54:51 PM

Hahaha. 'Tis true.

11/9/2008 1:55:44 PM

So let's actually look at the article here:

Quote :

"Raleigh, N.C. — North Carolina transportation officials say removing the cap on the state's gas tax could help a projected shortfall this coming year. Mark Foster, the Department of Transportation's chief financial officer, says the state agency lost $179 million over the past two years because of the cap. Its projected loss for this budget year is $412 million, he said. "A bridge replacement probably costs $2 million. That's a lot of bridges we could have repaired or replaced with that $400 million," Foster said. About 75 percent of the gas tax goes directly to the state highway fund for road and bridge maintenance as well as repair and preservation. The remaining portion goes for new construction. Without the extra revenue, Foster says the DOT is forced to absorb construction costs, which have doubled in the past six years. Without the cap, which is set to expire in July 2009, the DOT says it would have collected an additional 5 cents a gallon during the first half of this year and 10 cents more during the second half. "Obviously, none of us want to pay more, but the reality is without that money to repair our roads and keep our roads safe, we all suffer," Foster said. North Carolina's gas tax is 29.9 cents per gallon – 12 cents above the national average, and other charges are added to that. A portion of the tax is a flat rate and another portion depends on the wholesale price of gasoline. The cap limits the total tax per gallon to 30.15 cents. Foster acknowledges the gas tax is higher than other states, but says motorists are actually taxed less because there are fewer fees and other taxes that go to funding transportation needs. "When you take into consideration all the revenue sources that we collect, we're actually one of the lowest," he said. The DOT is projecting an 11 percent to 12 percent budget shortfall for the next fiscal year, and Foster says a $900 million to $1 billion shortfall is possible in the state's three-year spending plan. The statewide 21st Century Transportation Committee – charged by the governor to reduce congestion and improve efficiency – is expected to submit its funding recommendations next month to the General Assembly. Among the options it has before it is removing the gas tax cap, increasing vehicle registration fees and taxes associated with buying vehicles and implementing an annual fee based on the number of miles traveled."

So yeah, I guess this is a burdensome tax increase unless you consider the fact that you're not getting taxed by local bodies for road revenues as they would be in many other states, and you're also not having to pay a higher fee for registration. In Tennessee, the gas tax is lower but the registration fee is so high that I have friends who live in Memphis but find ways to register their car in Arkansas instead. It's nearly a $100 difference.

How do you suggest we fund road repair?

I just read this again and wow the title of this thread is even sillier now.

[Edited on November 18, 2008 at 5:01 PM. Reason : .]

11/18/2008 5:00:22 PM