NC press highlights Better South book

The North Carolina media are highlighting a new policy book by the Center for a Better South that calls on Southern legislators to modernize tax structures for the 21st century economy.

StateGovernmentRadio.com offers a long audio piece on its Web site how North Carolina had implemented five of the 11 proposals in the book. Listen to radio piece.

Meanwhile the Charlotte Business Journal noted the Tarheel State had a more progressive tax structure than other Southern states, but still had a long way to go:

"Unfortunately, our state governments generally haven't adapted to the new economy," center President Andy Brack said during a news conference in Charlotte Monday. "Their structures have outdated tax components that need to be modernized for today's market."

The story also highlighted several proposals from the book, Doing Better: Progressive Tax Reform for the American South:

Brack's group favors more simplified tax policies that eliminate tax breaks and exemptions favoring specific groups. He favors raising cigarette taxes to the national average of 92 cents per pack and taxing additional services. He notes that people who pay lawn-care services don't pay sales tax, while those who buy lawn mowers have to pay the tax.

Other proposals include a call for ending sales-tax holidays and using means testing for taxing senior citizens, rather than current codes that exempt pension and Social Security income for all elderly citizens, regardless of income. Those preferences cost North Carolina about $494 million in 2004, he said.