[LPmeck] Center for Local Innovation

[Christopher Cole]

Since I hope that there are some here weighing races for local  
government here, I am forwarding this from the LPNC list. It is from  
the Center for Local Innovation, a local-government program of the  
John Locke Foundation.
Chris

*New JLF guide urges limits on local government action*
*Recommendations focus on individual freedom, prosperity*

*Contact:*
*Dr. Michael Sanera <mailto:msanera at johnlocke.org&gt;

919-828-3876 *

/Click here
<http://designhammer.bm23.com/public/?q=ulink&fn=Link&ssid=315&id=kevgz3ptuuww45px7sscw7p387a5o&id2=72ku4dxge9emavvvja39kfm8tjkxm> to view and here <http://designhammer.bm23.com/public/?q=ulink&fn=Link&ssid=315&id=kevgz3ptuuww45px7sscw7p387a5o&id2=d674sagi4707339r8q6rimygia5u4> to listen to Dr. Michael Sanera discussing the City and County  
Issue
Guide./

RALEIGH -- Local governments will serve their communities best through  
policies that
limit taxes and regulation, while protecting private property from  
unnecessary government
intrusion. Those are some key concepts driving recommendations in the  
Center for Local
Innovation's new City and County Issue Guide 2009
<http://designhammer.bm23.com/public/?q=ulink&fn=Link&ssid=315&id=kevgz3ptuuww45px7sscw7p387a5o&id2=k1yoouf2izacksnu7riedeqt7o5qj>.

The center is issuing the guide as N.C. cities and counties make the  
budget choices that
will drive local government policy in the budget year that starts July  
1. "This guide
covers everything from taxes to transit, from smart growth to  
stadiums, but the common
theme is freedom," said Dr. Michael Sanera, John Locke Foundation  
Research Director and
Local Government Analyst. "By emphasizing individual freedom, local  
governments can
promote prosperity for all North Carolinians."

The 34-page guide addresses 16 of the most important topics local  
governments must
address. It focuses on services governments provide, steps those  
governments take to fund
their services, and the impact of government action on private  
property rights. Sanera
and other members of the JLF research staff analyze key challenges  
linked to each issue.

For example, one section warns local governments about the negative  
consequences of
so-called "smart growth" policies. "North Carolina cities that have  
implemented smart
growth techniques have experienced far more housing problems than  
those that have not,"
Sanera said. "North Carolina leaders should embrace a market-friendly  
approach to growth
to avoid these restrictive and counterproductive policies. Leaders  
should favor consumer
choices and prices over bureaucratic planning and guesswork."

The Issue Guide also urges local governments to prove that they need  
more funds before
seeking any tax increases. "Local government cost a typical North  
Carolinian $1,633 in
fiscal year 2007," said Joseph Coletti, JLF Fiscal and Health Care  
Policy Analyst. "That
figure represents 5 percent of per-capita personal income. For a  
family of four, the cost
of local government is $6,532. Spending on municipal golf courses,  
economic incentive
packages, convention centers, and other non-essential services  
received higher priority
in some local budgets than school buildings, sewer systems, and roads.  
Local governments
must earn the trust of taxpayers."

Speaking of economic incentive packages, another section in the Issue  
Guide warns local
governments about the negative consequences associated with targeted  
tax breaks.

"There's no such thing as a free subsidy," said Dr. Roy Cordato, JLF  
Vice President for
Research and Resident Scholar. "When a county decides to use tax  
dollars to entice a new
company to set up shop in a community, that money has to come from  
somewhere. Existing
local businesses and their employees must pay more in taxes and other  
costs to support
the subsidized industry."

The Issue Guide urges city and town leaders to avoid forced  
annexation. "The primary
purpose of forced annexation has been lost," said Daren Bakst, JLF  
Legal and Regulatory
Policy Analyst. "Forced annexation is not used to promote sound urban  
development. Areas
that need to be annexed are not annexed, while areas that do not need  
to be annexed are
annexed against the wishes of the people who live in those areas."

County officials can make better decisions about funding  
school-related programs,
according to the Issue Guide. "Local government appropriations to  
school districts should
be tied to performance-based measures and innovative practices that  
ensure sound
expenditure of local tax dollars," said Terry Stoops, JLF Education  
Policy Analyst. "Some
general principles can help, such as closely monitoring county  
appropriations to school
districts and measuring the effectiveness of the funding."

The City and County Issue Guide is designed to complement CLI's annual  
/By The Numbers/
<http://www.johnlocke.org/policy_reports/display_story.html?id=194>  
report, which ranks
cities and counties based on the costs of running local government.

"People can use the Issue Guide as a resource when they question local  
government costs,"
Sanera said. "Elected leaders can use the Issue Guide to find savings.  
By following the
guide's recommendations, local governments can avoid the spending  
growth that takes more
and more of our paychecks each year.

/The Center for Local Innovation's "City and County Issue Guide 2009"  
is available at the
JLF Web site
<http://designhammer.bm23.com/public/?q=ulink&fn=Link&ssid=315&id=kevgz3ptuuww45px7sscw7p387a5o&id2=6d5ur69181f2c2stt9k6o74ktqbto>. For more information, please contact Sanera at (919) 828-3876 or msanera at johnlocke.org <mailto:msanera at johnlocke.org&gt;. To arrange an interview, contact Mitch Kokai at (919) 306-8736 or  
mkokai at johnlocke.org
<mailto:mkokai at johnlocke.org&gt;./




-- 
Chris Cole
Huntersville, NC

"Those who pretend they want to preserve freedom, while they are eager to fix
prices, wage rates, and interest rates at a level different from that of the
market, delude themselves. There is no other alternative to  
totalitarian slavery
than liberty. There is no other planning for freedom and general  
welfare than to
let the market system work. There is no other means to attain full employment,
rising real wage rates, and a high standard of living for the common man than
private initiative and free enterprise."
-Ludwig von Mises
Founder, Austrian School of Economics
March 30, 1945