(The Center Square) – North Carolina’s general fund revenue over the fiscal biennium has increased to $71.1 billion, up $2.6 billion, according to the Office of State Budget and Management.
The agency said several factors supported the revenue growth. Included is “a sustained boom in artificial intelligence investment”; strong stock market performance; and robust corporate profits.
The concerns heading forward are higher energy and commodity prices; market risk; and rising interest rates.
In response, state Sen. Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said, “For years, we’ve seen these revenue forecasts significantly underestimate our state’s economic outlook. North Carolina’s economy is strong, and we continue to bring in substantial revenue surpluses thanks to Republican-led tax and budget policies. Our formula of low taxes, responsible spending, and reasonable regulations has led to one of the most prosperous decades in our state’s history.”
In 2010, when Republicans took majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly for the first time in 140 years since Reconstruction, North Carolinians were on an individual income tax system with rates of 6%, 7% and 7.75%, with potential for a surtax on higher earners.
Population in the state has grown roughly 17% since, from about 9.5 million to 11.2 million. Businesses have flocked, in part drawn by the declining corporate tax rate that will eventually be zero.
