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North Carolina’s revenue forecast is a wake-up call
Last week, the Office of State Budget and Management (OSBM) and the General Assembly’s Fiscal Research Division released their revised Consensus Revenue Forecast for the 2025-2027 biennium in North Carolina. The forecast is important because it tells lawmakers and the public how much revenue (or public dollars) is available to fund priorities in the current…
Latest news on what’s going on with the NC budget
Sign up for text updates here! 1:30 pm, Wednesday, April 1 Last week, Governor Stein requested that leaders in the NC General Assembly commit an additional $790 million to recovery efforts in Western NC from Hurricane Helene. The bulk of additional funding would come from the Stabilization and Inflation Reserve and the remaining balance in the Hurricane Helene Fund. If approved by the legislature, funds would be spent largely on infrastructure repairs and…
A Tale of Unmet Needs and Broken Systems: Helene Recovery After 18 Months
A year and a half ago, Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina, marking the costliest storm that has ever hit NC and the deadliest storm in the contiguous U.S. since Hurricane Katrina. Although the region has now transitioned to the long-term recovery phase, many of the same human needs that went neglected in the early months following Helene remain unmet as a result of bad policy choices and broken disaster recovery…
It’s time for a Well-Being Budget in North Carolina
What if progress and prosperity in our state was not defined by measures like the GDP or stock market, but by indicators that measure the level of well-being for all North Carolinians? North Carolina’s workers power our economy – they grow and harvest our food, care for and educate our children, and research and develop new medicines and technologies that improve our lives. Building a North…
NC’s labor market continues to weaken. Bad policy choices are to blame.
If you would like to access our general NC Labor Market page, “Work, Wages, and Well-Being,” click here. North Carolina’s headline unemployment rate remains strong at 3.9 percent, sitting below the national unemployment rate of 4.4 percent. Although the US and NC unemployment rates have been increasing from the lows in mid-2023, the increase remains gradual and controlled. However, numbers like these don’t tell…
North Carolina needs smart property tax relief, not reckless revenue limits
Property taxes are the backbone of local public services in North Carolina, funding everything from school buildings and libraries to fire departments and parks. But when property values rise rapidly in a housing market already short on affordable options, higher tax bills can strain incomes and displace long-time residents. That reality has prompted renewed legislative…
Economy for All 2026: An evening of connection and collective imagination
Community members, advocates, workers, and policy leaders gathered in Durham for the NC Budget & Tax Center’s (BTC) Economy for All 2026 on Jan. 22, an evening grounded in a shared belief that North Carolina’s economy should value each of our humanity and provide real opportunity for everyone. Watch a recording of Economy for All 2026 and see photos from the event here. The night began…
Welcome our 2026 Better NC Fellowship Cohort!
The North Carolina Budget & Tax Center is excited to announce the 2026 cohort of the Better NC Fellowship! This year, we welcome our largest cohort yet, with fifteen North Carolina leaders representing eight counties across the state. In collaboration with the NC Black Alliance, the NC Budget & Tax Center hosts the Better NC…
5 Things to Know About North Carolina’s Economy as 2026 begins
North Carolinians power our economy through their work every day, in every corner of the state — from growing and harvesting our food, to caring for and educating our children, to researching and developing new medicines and technologies that improve our lives. Their labor powers our economy. Yet, for many families, rising costs are making the…
North Carolina is at the bottom of the rankings for public school funding. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Each year, the Education Law Center publishes its “Making the Grade” report, ranking the 50 states and Washington, D.C. on their funding for public education. Most of us — across race, place, and background — all want to live in a North Carolina where everyone has access to a great public education, teachers make a livable wage, and we can build the foundation for a more secure future. However, December 2025’s “Making the…