Ten Golden Counties
Their economy contributes almost
half the net receipts of the state's
general fund.
By/ BILL SHARPE
What happens to business in ten
North Carolina counties is a vital key
to the prosperity of North Carolina's
government. The net contribution of
the economy of these ten counties to
the General Fund of North Carolina is
almost equal to that of all the other
90 counties put together . . . 48.23
per cent, to be exact.
And the economy of three counties
— Mecklenburg, Guilford and Forsyth
— account for over one-fourth of the
general fund's net receipts. These three
counties contain about 12 per cent of
the state's population.
We got this new yardstick by con¬
sulting the Department of Tax Re¬
search. It is not too complicated, and
it is as good a way for the department
to rate a county as any other. You
might be interested in the table show¬
ing your county's rank as a "net
contributor” to the state’s general fund,
and also how this rating is made.
How It Is Done
For the year ending June 30, 1952.
the table allocates $177,439,432 in
General Fund tax collections to the
100 counties. Direct returns and re¬
ceipts provide the basis for $106,934,-
898 of this sum.
But some receipts to the general
fund do not come to the general fund
directly from the counties which create
these receipts. These include corpora¬
tion franchise tax. corporation income
tax. beer and wine taxes, insurance
taxes and miscellaneous taxes.
While all the taxes from Cannon
Mills, for example, might be paid
from Cabarrus, it is erroneous to credit
the economy of that county with reve¬
nue generated by production or busi¬
ness activity in other counties. Taxes
on insurance premiums might come
to the general fund from Hertford
(again, as an example), but the
economy producing that revenue be¬
longs in the counties from which the
specified insurance company is re¬
ceiving premiums.
Consequently, $70,504,534 is allo¬
cated by The Department of Tax Re¬
search to the counties on the basis of
sales tax collections, income payment
to individuals in 1947. population,
total wages covered by employment
insurance, and similar indices.
After adding these allocations to the
direct returns, then the amount of
money returned by the state to each
county is deducted. This money in¬
cludes distributions to local govern¬
mental units of intangibles, beverage,
and franchise tax collections. Subtrac¬
tion of this money from the total allo¬
cated contribution leaves what is called
the net contribution of the economy of
each county to the general land. The
table docs not take into account gaso¬
line taxes, agricultural fees or non-tax
receipts.
The Department does not claim the
rankings arc precise, in fact, makes
no claim for them at all. except that
it is as good a way as it has yet found
to estimate roughly the weight of each
county as a factor in the general fund’s
balance.
If Mecklenburg were to secede and
(heaven forbid!) attach itself to South
Carolina, it would cost the general
fund over SIS.OOO.OOO. Even after de¬
ducting what the state pays back to the
county in various funds, that great
county’s contribution to the general
fund is nearly 10.6 per cent of all the
fund's net receipts.
Ten Golden Counties
The ten golden counties (tax col¬
lector's standards) of North Carolina,
in the order of the net contribution of
their economy, arc Mecklenburg. Guil¬
ford. Forsyth. Wake. Buncombe.
Durham. Gaston. Alamance. New
Hanover, and Cabarrus.
The rankings of the first five coin¬
cide with their population rankings.
But Gaston. 6th in population, is 7th
in the "net contribution" table, while
Durham. 7th in population, is 6th here.
Alamance. Ilth in population, is,
nevertheless. 8th in our table. New
Hanover. 18th in population, is 9th,
THE STATE. Vol. XXI; No. 3«. Entered a* tcrond-rlaso matter. June I. 1933. at the Pottolflce at Kaleleh. North Carolina, under the act of
March 3. 1S19. Publlihed by Sharpe Publlihlnc Co.. Inc., Lawyer* Hide- Raleljh. N. C. Copyright. 1951, by the Sharpe Publishing Co., Inc.
