News-Record.com

Gov. Mike Easley held his annual chat with reporters at the governor’s mansion this morning. I’ll have more on this later, including some audio, but for now I’ll offer up his thoughts on the sales tax.

You may remember a few years back that the state imposed an extra half-cent sales tax to help deal with an ongoing fiscal shortfall. And you may recall that half-cent was added with the understanding that it would come off.

The legislature took half of it off last year, effective Dec. 1. That makes the effective sales tax rate in most of the state 6.75 percent.

During his chat with reporters today, Easley said the legislature should talk about keeping the other .25 percent.

“The question I want to take up with the legislature is, ‘is there something we’d rather do with that quarter cent,’” Easley said. He said that the revenue the tax generates – about $200 million – could be put toward programs that have been reduced by the federal government or aren’t otherwise funded.

“I don’t want to get to far out there with that,” Easley said, noting that he hadn’t talked to legislators yet.

The pitch sort of struck me as a trial balloon. Easley points out that if you spent $750 on Christmas presents this year, that extra quarter-percent cost you about $1.87. Still, you can expect some pretty fierce push back from both conservatives – who will say the state is breaking a promise to reduce taxes – and more progressive/liberal folks – who complain that the sales tax is regressive.