Governing: Voters Lower Cap on Income Tax in North Carolina

Still, many worry that locking down North Carolina’s income tax rates will hamstring future policymakers’ ability to raise revenue. North Carolina is one of a handful of states that has prioritized tax cuts over restoring education funding since the recession ended in 2009. It also is among states that saw teacher protests this spring over funding. Restricting an important policy lever hampers how the state can raise money for education and other vital programs and services in the short- and long-term, opined Meg Wiehe, the deputy director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, in a WRAL.com editorial.

“None of us has a crystal ball,” she wrote. “We cannot with 100 percent certainty predict what our collective public needs will be one year from now, let alone 5 or 20 years in the future.” Read more