President's Perspective
Amendment One’s passage critical

Also see:
Blackwell campaigns for Amendment One in Public Service Announcement
Sample resolution in support of Amendment One (PDF)

North Carolina voters will have many important choices to make when they go to the polls Nov. 2, including a proposed change to the state constitution.

President's Perspective By Breeden Blackwell President's Perspective Archive

North Carolinians for Jobs & Progress is asking citizens to vote for Amendment One, which will amend the state constitution to allow local governments to issue self-financing bonds, an important economic development tool available in every state but North Carolina and Arizona.

These bonds are used to pay for public improvements in partnership with private investment within a designated development district. Communities in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia have already used this tool to attract hundreds of millions of dollars in private investment, resulting in thousands of new jobs for their citizens.

Self-financing bonds can be used to support a wide variety of projects, including the re-use of abandoned textile and furniture plants, affordable housing, commercial development in inner cities, industrial parks, redevelopment of areas damaged by environmental pollution or natural disasters.

The bonds do not require a public referendum because they do not result in a general tax increase. Instead, the additional tax revenues created by the increased property values in the district are used to pay off the bonds. That flexibility makes North Carolina communities much more competitive for projects that can’t wait months for a referendum.

This is a critical issue to North Carolinians. Our state has lost thousands of manufacturing jobs in the textile and furniture industries in recent years, jobs that are not likely to come back in the near future. We need to take advantage of every tool available to help our communities attract new development to continue to prosper.

Self-financing bonds are a low-risk option, and North Carolina’s approach to these bonds will be one of the most conservative in the country. All bonds will have to be approved by the State Local Government Commission. In more than 50 years, no local bond approved by the Commission has defaulted. In addition, limits will be placed on local governments’ use of this tool, and no more than 5 percent of a government’s jurisdiction will be allowed to be in development districts.

The effort to pass Amendment One has widespread and bipartisan support. Both chambers of the General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to put the issue on the November ballot. Counties across the state have adopted resolutions in support of this critical economic development tool.

In addition, the boards of directors of the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners and the North Carolina League of Municipalities have united to throw their support behind the amendment, and former governors Jim Holshouser, Jim Martin and Jim Hunt are serving as honorary co-chairs of North Carolinians for Jobs & Progress.

For more information, visit www.amendmentone.org.