Republican control freaks attack local government taxing authority

Whenever you hear a Republican in the General Assembly talking about the importance of keeping decisions in the hands of local folks, you'll need to pull out your can of Bullshit spray. That's because the Tarheel Taliban is only in favor of local decision-making when they like the local decisions being made. So if you happen to be a county commissioner or city council member interested in funding good government in your own jurisdiction, you are pretty much shit out of luck.

Republicans in the state House are hoping to eliminate the possibility of local tax increases on land sales. Currently, counties have the ability to seek voter approval for up to one-quarter percent of property values on real estate sales.

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North Carolina Association of County Commissioners communications director Todd McGee said it should still be an option. "The fact that is hasn't been successful so far doesn't mean that it should be repealed. We believe that counties would like to have as many option as possible when it comes to various revenue structures and that would be a viable one for the future," said McGee.

No one should be surprised by this. Republicans in Raleigh want to control everything they can, including women's bodies. So much for all that happy talk about freedom.