Ten Tax Hikes That Slammed Middle Class Families — Courtesy of NC Democrats | Eastern North Carolina Now

Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the Civitas Institute. The author of this post is Brian Balfour.

    North Carolina progressive liberal groups and politicians have for years criticized the past decade of conservative tax cuts as being only "for big corporations and the rich."

    The claim is demonstrably false, as detailed HERE.

    Moreover, these same folks would have you believe that Democrat leadership would be friendly to working- and middle-class households when it comes to the state tax burden.

    Don't believe it.

    Following is a sampling spanning three decades of tax increases approved by Democrat-controlled legislatures that imposed a heavier tax burden — especially on lower- and middle-class households.

    In that vein, the Civitas Institute presents: "Ten Tax Hikes That Slammed Middle Class Families — Courtesy of NC Democrats"*

• The legislative authorization in 1986 of a half-cent increase in the local sales tax, an increase of about $200 million in the levy statewide.
• A 1-cent increase — from 3% to 4% — in the statewide sales tax rate in 1991.
• An increase of the state sales tax from 4% to 4.5%, initially to be "temporary" and last from 2001 to 2003. This was estimated to cost NC taxpayers more than $1.5 billion over two years at the time.
• Extension of the "temporary" sales tax rate of 4.5% another 2 years in 2003.
• An extension in 2005 of the "temporary" sales tax rate yet another 2 years. By 2007, the two sales tax extensions cost taxpayers an additional $1.72 billion.
• Making permanent, in 2007, a quarter-cent of the "temporary" sales tax — at a cost of more than a quarter billion dollars per year.
• An increase in the statewide sales tax by 1 cent to 5.75% from 2009 to 2011, costing households an additional $1.6 billion over two years.
• The creation in 2009 thru 2011 of a 3% "surcharge" on the income tax paid by middle-class households (single filers earning above $60K, and married filing jointly earning above $100K). This cost taxpayers roughly $350 million over two years.
• An increase in the gas tax by 2 cents per gallon in 1986, which cost motorists about $100 million per year at the time.
• An increase in the gas tax of 1/2 cent per gallon in 1991, with a quarter-cent to expire in 1995 and the rest to sunset in 1999.

    *dollar amount estimates provided are taken from the time the taxes were enacted and not adjusted for inflation to current dollars

    The above list doesn't include all the taxes Democrats passed while they were in power, or Democrats' failed attempt in 2011 to extend the "temporary" 2009 sales tax hike that would have cost North Carolina households more than $800 million per year.

    Don't be fooled by their promises to only "tax the rich and big corporations." The evidence is clear: when in power, North Carolina Democrats won't hesitate to raise taxes on middle class and working class households.