Locke analyst calls new taxes 'unconscionable'

A fiscal-policy analyst with the libertarian John Locke Foundation in Raleigh said Durham County's proposed 1 percent sales tax on prepared food is a bad idea.

"Unconscionable," even, according to Joseph Coletti, who released a harsh statement criticizing the prepared-food tax on Tuesday.

"There is never a good time to raise taxes, but attempting to raise them as people watch their retirement savings disappear is unconscionable," Coletti wrote. "Not content with that ignominy, Durham City and County officials want that tax to apply to meals including the rotisserie chicken you buy at the grocery store for the family dinner after you worked late."

A referendum on the tax is part of the Nov. 4 general-election ballot.

Advocates for the tax, which would be used to build, maintain and promote recreational and cultural attractions such as museums and greenways, have been critical of outside interest meddling in Durham County's politics.

Americans for Prosperity, a low-tax, limited government lobbying organization, and the N.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association, have involved themselves in opposing the tax as well as the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People and some Durham restaurant owners.

Coletti claims that the tax would add to a county tax burden already the fifth-highest in North Carolina. He also denied that a prepared-food tax is progressive, primarily affecting consumers financially well off, which advocates claim.

Coletti said, "Poor people ... may still spend a larger portion of their income on prepared food than families with higher incomes."

See this coming Saturday's Durham News for more on conflicting points of view about the prepared-food tax.