Easley budget would use lottery money, local reimbursements
By SCOTT MOONEYHAM, Associated Press Writer
May 22, 2002 12:52 am
Posted on 05/22/2002 5:43:45 AM PDT by Constitution Day
Easley budget would use lottery money, local reimbursements
By SCOTT MOONEYHAM, Associated Press Writer
May 22, 2002 12:52 am
RALEIGH, N.C. --
Gov. Mike Easley depends on highway money and proceeds from a lottery that's yet to be approved, rather than a tax hike, to balance next year's state budget.
Easley presented a $14.3 billion budget proposal to legislators Tuesday, saying it accomplishes his goal of preserving progress in the public schools.
"We cannot just cut or tax our way out of a recession. We have to grow our way out of a recession. We have to invest in our people and in our work force through education, and be smarter about the way we do it," he said.
Easley and state lawmakers are grappling with the worst budget crisis in decades, created by slowing tax collections in weak economy.
Already, the governor has had to squeeze state agencies to deal with a budget shortfall in the current fiscal year expected to reach $1.5 billion. That comes a year after state tax collections fell $830 million short of expectations.
Easley's proposed budget calls for nets cuts of $440 million from state agency spending. In addition, he would rely on $210 million in highway money, $330 million in reimbursements taken from cities and counties, and $250 million in lottery proceeds.
The budget plan would eliminate 1,280 vacant jobs and 1,404 filled positions. Non-teaching university employees would make up more than a third of the employees to be laid off, with 526 currently filled jobs to be eliminated.
Another 337 prison employees would be laid off.
But the budget also calls for 619 new prison positions to be created, and for 542 new university jobs. Another 582 public school jobs, most of them teachers, would also be created.
Easley budget adviser Dan Gerlach predicted that about three-quarters of those who lost jobs would be able to find other positions in state government.
"There is stuff in here that we did not want to do," Gerlach said.
While deciding to take back the $330 million in local reimbursements, Easley said he would work for legislation to accelerate a plan giving local governments the authority to pass a half-cent sales tax increase. The General Assembly has provided the reimbursements to cities and counties after doing away with taxes on stocks and inventory.
Easley added that he was still unsure what options local governments want in trying to create a replacement revenue source.
He rejected notions that pulling the reimbursements equates to a budget with a tax increase.
"There is no tax increase in the budget. It's saying there will be no local reimbursements," Easley said.
The budget proposal calls for no revenue growth in the next year, meaning that Easley isn't counting on tax collections to increase.
Roughly $54 million in lottery proceeds would go to class size reductions and Easley's preschool program initiative, More at Four. The remainder would go for the enrollment increases and teacher bonuses, but that would be temporary until the state was able to expand the class size reductions and preschool program.
The spending plan includes no salary increase for most state employees. Teachers would receive a so-called step salary increase, costing $51 million. The increase would average 1.84 percent. They would also receive school performance bonuses.
It would also cut out contributions to the state retirement system, which fiscal analysts say is already flush with cash and will be able to meet future obligations.
Legislative budget writers say the plan isn't so far from the budget proposal that they are considering, but just like last year questioned putting proceeds from a lottery not yet approved on their ledgers.
"I frankly think that the lottery is so uncertain that I'm not willing to approach it on that basis," said Sen. Howard Lee, D-Orange, one of the co-chairs of the Senate budget writing committee.
Lee added that it will be difficult to justify any expansion in the budget, even for Easley's school initiatives.
"We have not thought this would have a year to expand. We've thought first and foremost we've got to hold the line," he said.
URL for this article: http://www.heraldsun.com/state/6-229439.html
© Copyright 2002. All rights reserved. All material on heraldsun.com is copyrighted by The Durham Herald Company and may not be reproduced or redistributed in any medium except as provided in the site's Terms of Use.
Easley budget proposal highlights
By The Associated Press
May 21, 2002 6:06 pm
Highlights from Gov. Mike Easley's $14.3 billion proposed budget released Tuesday:
-- Net cuts of $440 million to state agencies. Reductions of more than $700 million in all state government programs, but new spending of $263 million.
-- eliminate $333 million in state reimbursements to cities and counties. The reimbursements had come to the local governments to make up for their portion of stock and inventory taxes eliminated.
-- transfer of $210 million in highway money to the state's general fund.
-- elimination of 1,404 filled state jobs, along with 1,280 vacant jobs.
-- create 1,124 new education jobs, and 619 prison positions.
-- pull $40 million from money from a legal settlement with cigarette makers.
-- $26.2 million for expansion of class size reductions.
-- $28 million for expansion of More at Four preschool program for at-risk children.
-- $128 million for enrollment increases for public schools, universities and community colleges.
-- $79.8 million for teacher performance bonuses.
-- save $68.9 million by deferring middle class tax cuts approved last year.
-- $109.7 million for additional Medicaid spending.
END
URL for this article: http://www.heraldsun.com/state/6-229569.html
© Copyright 2002. All rights reserved. All material on heraldsun.com is copyrighted by The Durham Herald Company and may not be reproduced or redistributed in any medium except as provided in the site's Terms of Use.
LET'S FREEP THE LEGISLATURE!
Kudos to Jerry Agar of WPTF 680 AM in Raleigh for yesterday's program on Easley's budget!
If you didn't hear this, you really missed a good one.
Please contact your local NC House members and NC Senators TODAY and tell them how you feel about this nonsense.
The links below will tell you how to find YOUR local representatives.
Please be polite, to the point, and most importantly, tell them where you are from!
Thanks in advance,
Brandon
(a.k.a. Constitution Day)
And government has the nerve to condemn Enron accounting practices!
I also hope there will a lot of Democratic legislators who are out of work after the elections!
I agree with you there. I'm just against any scheme that gives the politicians more money. Instead of running a numbers racket why don't they just legalize gambling and tax it like any other business?
Simple.
The Sociocrats want more GOVERNMENT JOBS, not more private enterprise.
It's the same reason they refuse to privatize the ABC stores, I think.
Yeah, I know. It was up until the leftists took over the Democrats. Let's see....that would be when Jim Hunt took office, wouldn't it?
My thoughts exactly! I would laugh myself silly...well sillier...if NC got the lottery and lost money on it!
Hehehehe We don't need no stinking ABC store! Johnston County is just down the road.
(manical laughter) BOHICA NC taxpayers..........God I love this job!
MKM
"See my hand? I've got Speaker Jim Black's cojones right in there!"
Read The Governor's Budget Proposal (.pdf file):
Click here
Note: this is the first time I have pinged EVERYONE on the NC page.
Please Freepmail me if:
1) You want to be added to my North Carolina ping-list.
2) You no longer want to be included in this North Carolina ping-list.
FRegards,
Constitution Day
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I guess it's always the work horse that gets it in the ass. I was wondering how I could have had zero, I repeat, zero NC state income tax exemptions for 2001 yet I still had to cut the thieving useless sacks of infected monkey sh!t state revenuers a check. I think I'm fed up with them all.
Two days ago while I was at the gym my lifting partner (a caterer) and another guy that was working out started up a conversation. The guy works for the state (gainfully employed welfare recipient) and the guy found out that my friend's company can do large spreads. The guy said that he might be interested in having my friend come out there and cater a nice meal for them. He said they have alot of money left over from their budget and that if they didn't use it for somehting they would lose it. Well I just about lost it there. I guess giving back what you don't use after you extorted it in the first place is out of the question. This is the kind of crap that leads to larger and larger budgets and more and more taxes.
Oh well, Death To Tyrants!
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