Budget contains pluses and minuses

Editorial by Burlington Times-News, September 17, 2015.

First things first: There are a few items to actually like about the state budget, which appears to be on the precipice of becoming a fact, albeit two months late and after some arm-twisting, rhetoric and requisite gnashing of teeth.

For one, historic tax credits — the very program that helped fuel key redevelopment in Mebane, Graham and Glencoe — are back after a short absence and months of lobbying by Secretary of Cultural Resources Susan Kluttz and Gov. Pat McCrory.

That’s a good thing, especially for aging downtowns in need of repurposing old buildings for new and potentially lucrative uses.

And some state employees will get pay raises, but there doesn’t seem to be much that’s fair about it. For example, state Highway Patrol officers get 3 percent salary increases, but most state employees and teachers will get a one-time $750 bonus in December. On the other hand, there’s $38 million for correctional officer raises, $30 million for community college salaries and $38 million for the governor to use for targeted pay hikes. The targets, however, are unspecified.

Good news for some, not for others. And it’s difficult to know why.

Also on the plus side is the return of funding for driver education in high schools. Teacher assistants, mostly, get to keep their jobs.

And we dodged, for now, the disturbing tax redistribution plan proposed in the Senate that would take revenue generated by retail sales in larger cities like Burlington and funnel it into rural counties.

On the negative end, the budget wipes out tax credits for solar and renewable energy projects. Republican House members had wanted to save the credits, but hardliners in the Senate, who voted the tax breaks out of their budget version early, seem to have gotten their way.

Many senators apparently regard solar energy as something a little too new age that will go away. But from all appearances, it’s an industry that’s growing. It’s a shortsighted decision to dump a program that made North Carolina a national leader in new solar and wind technology. The U.S. military and Walmart — by no means hippie or beatnick operations — have reported marked savings from installing solar arrays. Duke Energy has a dozen “solar farms” collecting power at different points around North Carolina. Solar farms are becoming a fixture on the landscape here in Alamance County as well.

When prices of petroleum head back up, we may regret forsaking the alternatives.

And while some taxpayers may rejoice at tax-code changes that will save them some money, the $384 million reduction in revenue is money that might have been better spent shoring up our schools, both in the K-12 system and in higher education.

By the way, there will be increases of around 30 percent in Division of Motor Vehicles fees and an expanded sales tax that will be imposed on appliance installations and car repairs. So much for the savings on those tax code changes.

The budget doesn’t address the proposed $2 billion bond package for work on the state’s buildings, infrastructure and highways. The good news is, it’s part of another bill that lawmakers intend to address before adjournment. It’s a proposal by the governor that should be put before voters.

As the final votes are taken this week it’s logical to ask whether the two-month wait for this spending plan was worth it. Probably not, but it also could have been a lot worse.

http://www.thetimesnews.com/article/20150916/OPINION/150919162/15233/OPINION