After millions of dollars on a convention center, walking trails, an extra golf course, non-profit funding and even entertaining the troops from a naval vessel the Wilmington city council has decided that fixing their streets might be important.
The city council decided to raise the tax rate by 3 cents per $100 of value for a five-year capital plan that will raise $41 million. Of that, $35.2 million will go to streets and sidewalks, including $21 million specifically for street rehabilitation. That money will address streets that have languished in poor condition or need repairs.
Simply staggering that the city can justify a tax increase on this as they continue to waste taxpayer time and money on a baseball stadium. Do you think the streets have more importance than a taxpayer funded baseball stadium?
Read full article » 1 Comment »We’ve mentioned Rep. Susi Hamilton’s (D-New Hanover) votes on film incentives and fracking before. But more questions are being asked weeks later as pointed out by the StarNews, an excerpt:
Bob Hall, executive director of the watchdog group Democracy North Carolina, said he didn’t believe Hamilton’s support for the film industry rises to the level of an ethical violation but “does smell bad.”
More of the story here and also an overview of favoritism with film incentives over at the Locke Foundation here.
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