For Immediate Release – Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Contact: Mary Ellen Burke (202)-349-5880

Americans for Prosperity-North Carolina Regrets Governor Perdue’s Proposed Tax Hike on Cigarettes, Alcohol

RALEIGH- Americans for Prosperity (AFP) regrets the steep tax increases proposed today by Governor Beverly Perdue in her budget proposal intended to stimulate North Carolina’s bruised economy.

Under the Governor’s plan, the tax on cigarettes would jump from 35 cents to $1.35, a nearly 300% increase, and a far cry from the 5 cents tax per pack that existed just four years ago.

Other tax increases proposed by Gov. Perdue include a 5% surcharge on alcohol and a quadrupling of the licensing fees paid by professionals. This amounts to a permanent $680 million tax increase per year.

Perdue’s proposed tax hikes coincide with the release of a study by AFP that found 62% of North Carolinians believe they are already paying too much in taxes. Furthermore, when asked what are the most important issues in state budgeting, 60% identified wasteful spending on programs that do not work, while another 29% referenced state tax rates.

Dallas Woodhouse, state director of Americans for Prosperity- North Carolina released the following statement in response to the proposed tax increases:

“AFP-North Carolina is outraged by Governor Perdue’s willingness to increase taxes on the already struggling people of North Carolina, rather than cut wasteful spending from the budget. This proposal will ruin North Carolina’s relationship with the tobacco industry, the same industry that is responsible for much of North Carolina’s development and so many of our jobs.

It is clear that taxpayers of all income levels understand that North Carolina cannot tax its way to prosperity. North Carolina taxpayers have simply had enough. They’re sick and tired of politicians in Raleigh raising taxes to pay for spending programs that leave us with the highest tax rates in the southeast and crumbling roads and failing schools.

Significant reductions in state spending may be difficult for politicians and government-funded operations to fathom, but it is not difficult for hard-working citizens, many of whom have seen a dramatic drop in their incomes in recent weeks. Government must make cuts just like the rest of us do around the kitchen table.”