North Carolina
If Raleigh Budgeted More Like N.C., Taxpayers Would Save Millions
Raleigh, North Carolina
Unsustainable rates of growth in government spending is a problem at the federal and state levels. Lawmakers in most states, both blue and red, are growing government spending at an unsustainable rate, more rapidly than population growth and inflation. Yet a number of states have demonstrated over the past decade that fiscal restraint and conservative budgeting is an achievable goal.
In the decade from 2014 to 2023, total state outlays (both state funds and federal transfer funds) in six states (Alaska, Colorado, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, Wyoming) grew at a slower pace than the rate of population growth plus inflation, also referred to as the fiscally sustainable growth rate (SGR). In another six states (Louisiana, Massachusetts, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island), state spending (state funds only, not including federal transfers) grew at a slower pace than the SGR. Yet even in states where lawmakers have practiced sustainable budgeting, runaway spending by local governments remains a challenge.
North Carolina is one of the states where lawmakers kept growth of state spending over the past decade below the rate of population growth plus inflation. While state legislators in Raleigh, led by Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger (R) and Speaker Tim Moore (R), are practicing budgetary restraint, local officials in Raleigh are not.
Take the new FY 2025 city budget recently proposed by the Raleigh City Council, which totals $1.44 billion. That represents a nearly 12% increase from the current budget.
If the Raleigh City Council were to craft a new spending plan that instead grew city spending in line with the rate of inflation and population growth, which is 6.56%, they would need to enact a budget that spends $1.36 billion next year, not the proposed $1.43 billion. A new city budget that grew in line with population growth plus inflation, which the General Assembly down the street has demonstrated is attainable for more than a decade, would save Raleigh taxpayers more than $66 million next year.
Basic math demonstrates that Raleigh officials could provide signifiant relief to taxpayers through more sustainable budgeting. As Senator Berger, Speaker Moore, and their colleagues have demonstrated for years, meaningful taxpayer savings doesn’t not necessitate drastic spending cuts or a slashing of services, but more modest rates of growth.
By keeping growth in state spending below the rate of population growth plus inflation, North Carolina has realized repeated budget surpluses at the same time lawmakers have returned billions to taxpayers through rate-reducing income tax reform that has brought the state’s top income tax rate from 7.75% down to 4.5% in the matter of a decade. Thanks to this fiscal restraint on the part of the North Carolina General Assembly, state government is much trimmer in size than was the case a decade ago.
“For several decades – from the mid-1970’s up until the Republican takeover of the General Assembly in 2011 – North Carolina’s state budget hovered between 6% and 7% of the state’s economy,” the NC Budget Center, a progressive outfit, reported in 2021. “Thanks to big tax and spending cuts enacted by the General Assembly, state outlays began to plummet, reaching their nadir during the current fiscal year at around 4.54% of the state’s economy.”
The NC Budget Center and other progressive organizations bemoan the fact that, relative to the size of the North Carolina economy, state government is now much leaner than it was prior to the 2010 GOP takeover of the state legislature. Yet, proving the adage that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, many others, including most North Carolina legislators, view that same trend as one to brag about, particularly on the campaign trail.
Charles Gaddy was tuna fishing with his dad on Sunday, more than 40 miles northeast of Oregon Inlet, when he saw something he’d never seen before.
“I was just looking in the water, seeing if, you know, any birds or anything, and I see this big gray fish with white dots,” said Gaddy. “Just from reading books and watching movies as a kid, I was like, ‘that’s got to be a whale shark.’”
The 18-year-old said they circled it. He grabbed his GoPro camera and started recording.
“It’s just sitting there, swimming beside us. It really, truly was amazing,” said Gaddy.
Whale sharks are the world’s largest fish. They’re currently listed as endangered by the Union for the Conservation of Nature.
In the Western Atlantic, whale sharks are primarily found in the Gulf and throughout the Caribbean, according to Eric Hoffmayer, a research fishing biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service. He said they’ve seen numerous whale sharks make their way up the Gulf Stream, ending up in the New England area in late summer and early fall.
“We had an animal last year that we tagged off Tampa and within a month was off New York, and cruised right past North Carolina about this time of year,” said Hoffmayer. “It’s not unheard of, but it’s not real common either.”
Gaddy recognized how lucky he was to experience a sighting.
“To be able to see one in person, especially locally, it’s very truly amazing,” said Gaddy. “It’s no doubt a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I’m no doubt very blessed.”
If you do encounter a whale shark in the wild, Hoffmayer said, you need to be careful if you’re in a boat because they spend a lot of time at the surface. If you get in the water, keep a safe distance.
“Most people I’ve talked to who have encountered whale sharks, it’s like a life-changing experience,” said Hoffmayer. “It’s really cool to see an animal that large in the wild doing its thing.”
You can report whale shark sightings to the University of Southern Mississippi’s Center for Fisheries Research and Development. If you’re able to capture a good picture of a whale shark, you can see if it matches one already in a database by uploading the photo and information about the sighting online.
OMAHA, Neb. — The championship series is set. And without a doubt, the two hottest teams, North Carolina and Oklahoma, are paired to play for a national title at the College World Series.
There was no backing into the finals for these squads, one that looked like a contender all season and one that did not until two weeks ago.
North Carolina (53-12-1) and Oklahoma (41-22) swept through opposite brackets at Charles Schwab Field. UNC punctuated its three-game run with a 12-7 victory Wednesday against West Virginia. OU followed by defeating Georgia, the regular-season and postseason SEC champ, 11-4.
Iconic brands in college sports, the Tar Heels and Sooners will meet Saturday at 8 p.m. ET in the opening game of a best-of-three series.
North Carolina seeks its first national championship in baseball. It lost in the finals in 2006 and 2007. Oklahoma has won two crowns, most recently in 1994, and it lost in the finals in 2022.
LET’S PLAY FOR A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/588pVssfOR
— Oklahoma Baseball (@OU_Baseball) June 18, 2026
“It really hasn’t set in yet,” said UNC second baseman Gavin Gallaher, who was 4 for 5 on Wednesday with four RBIs. “After the game, we shook hands, and I was just kind of walking around, looking up in the stands, looking at my family, just kind of speechless, to be honest.”
The Tar Heels were seeded fifth in the 64-team field announced on Memorial Day. In Omaha, they have not trailed by more than one run — and for just three innings. North Carolina’s pitching staff, on maximum rest during its stay in Omaha, is set up well for the weekend.
Junior ace starter Jason DeCaro, who worked 6 2/3 innings Friday, enters the championship series in position to start the opener. Star freshman Caden Glauber, who was needed for 2 1/3 innings Wednesday afternoon as WVU mounted a comeback, has thrown only 54 pitches in the CWS. The Tar Heels are 28-0 this year when Glauber appears in a game. He’s won 11 decisions without a loss.
Sixth-year coach Scott Forbes took over in 2021 for Mike Fox, who brought North Carolina to the CWS seven times. Bids for a first national title fell short in 2006 and 2007 against Oregon State in the championship series.
Forbes joined Fox’s staff before that 2006 season as a 31-year-old pitching coach.
“I’m trying not to get emotional,” Forbes said, “just thinking about that team and Coach Fox giving me the opportunity. I wasn’t the popular hire at the time. There were a lot bigger names. I had never been a pitching coach. But Coach Fox saw something in me and gave me that opportunity.”
Oklahoma returns to the championship series for the second time in five years. It lost to Ole Miss in 2022. The Rebels that year were the first team to win a championship with a losing record in conference play.
OU is attempting to become the second.
Coach Skip Johnson’s team finished 14-16 in the SEC and lost four consecutive league series to close the regular season. But the Sooners clawed back in Regional play, winning two elimination games at Georgia Tech, the No. 2 overall seed.
OU swept Kansas in a Super Regional and beat SEC foes Alabama and Georgia before it won the rematch Wednesday night against the Bulldogs.
The Sooners remade their pitching rotation in the postseason to ride three true freshmen: left-hander Cord Rager, a season-long starter, Xander Mercurius and Nick Wesloski. The latter duo had combined to start four games this season before they both beat the Bulldogs, who came to Omaha with the most powerful lineup in college baseball.
Wesloski fired 5 2/3 innings Wednesday and struck out four, one off his career high.
Rager and Mercurius have inspired Wesloski, he said.
“Seeing the way they dominated and they carry themselves,” he said, “those guys are just elite. Watching them go about their process has made me a better pitcher. Those guys look unstoppable, unbeatable. It’s added to my confidence level. They influence me a ton.”
OU got hot at the plate, too. In eliminating Georgia, it homered five times, including two apiece by Jason Walk and Dasan Harris. Before Wednesday, Walk had hit four bombs in 200 at-bats; Harris had four in 137 at-bats.
Twenty-five of Oklahoma’s 90 home runs this year have come in 10 postseason games.
It pays to get hot at the right time.
“You’re looking at a baseball team, a selfless baseball team that’s really fun to be around,” said Johnson, the ninth-year OU coach. “Hopefully, I can just stay out of the way the next two or three games.”
RALEIGH, NC — For years, WRAL Investigates tracked problems with North Carolina’s unemployment benefits system.
Now, two new follow-up audits show the same problems still persist inside the Division of Employment Security (DES) when it comes to paying the correct amount of unemployment and paying those first-time benefits on time.
The first audit deals with improper payments. The category includes fraud, overpayments and underpayments.
From 2021-2025, the auditor found the improper payment rate for unemployment benefits in North Carolina was 22%, most of which were overpayments. That’s more than double the national standard of 10% error rate.
According to the North Carolina Office of the State Auditor (OSA), those payment errors cost taxpayers more than $90 million over the expected 10% error rate.
In fact, the improper payment rate got worse compared to an initial audit’s findings back in 2022, when OSA found errors in 18% of payments.
The second follow-up audit out today dealt with timeliness of benefits, meaning when people finally got paid after filing and qualifying for unemployment.
In 2024- 2025, 28% of first-time unemployment checks were not cut within the 14-day federal standard. While not great, it’s an improvement compared to previous audit findings of 40% late checks in 2022 and 43% of late checks in 2024.
In fact, the auditor’s office noted on-time payments in below the national standard in just 3 of the past 20 years.
The Division of Unemployment Security agreed with the findings and recommendations to improve North Carolina’s unemployment system.
-
New York16 minutes agoVideo: Knicks Fans Celebrate With Ticker-Tape Parade
-
Los Angeles, Ca23 minutes agoArmed, dangerous CHP pursuit suspect tied to double homicide in Pomona
-
Detroit, MI41 minutes agoFirst responders honored after rescuing 12 people from capsized sailboats near Belle Isle
-
San Francisco, CA53 minutes agoOakland man faces hate crime charges for Castro District attack
-
Dallas, TX56 minutes agoAt least 4 injured after vehicle drives into Dallas crowd, driver arrested
-
Miami, FL1 hour agoMiami Central students prepare for life changing trip to Zimbabwe amid funding challenges
-
Boston, MA1 hour agoGiannis to Boston is a possibility. Should the Knicks be worried?
-
Denver, CO1 hour agoDenver Public Schools’ decline in enrollment continues to reshape district
