Thursday, October 14, 2010
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| Beth Dawson |
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| Susi Hamilton |
Each District 18 candidate can demonstrate an involvement with the Wilmington community and both align themselves with political parties opposite those of their fathers growing up.
And while they both believe the economy and job creation are the area’s most important issues, they have some different views on how to address them through taxes.
Republican Beth Dawson favors cutting the corporate tax rate, saying North Carolina has one of the highest rates in the southeast.
"We need to make North Carolina a more business-friendly state," Dawson, a retired banker, said Monday, Oct. 11. Her opponent, Democrat Susi Hamilton, said while she is willing to look at an overall restructuring of the state’s tax system, cutting the corporate tax rate is not the answer.
"You have to look at other tax structures," Hamilton said on Thursday, Oct. 7. "You can’t just look at one source of revenue."
The state Department of Commerce’s website lists the corporate income tax rate as 6.9 percent for North Carolina. Hamilton said that is in line with surrounding states, while Dawson said the rate is too high.
A website hosted by the Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan educational organization Tax Foundation lists the corporate income tax rates for nearby states in 2010 as 5 percent in South Carolina, 6.5 percent in Tennessee, 6 percent in Virginia, 6.5 percent in Alabama, 5.5 percent in Florida and 6 percent in Georgia.
North Carolina is ranked No. 4 in the United States as a top state in which to conduct business, Hamilton said, citing a 2010 study by CNBC that looked at several indicators, including the cost of doing business, quality of life and transportation and infrastructure.
"We have a good story to tell," Hamilton said. "We’ve had successful economic development, even over the last several years, and we need to be selling that message to the outside world so that they will look to us (as) a place to bring jobs."
Branding, marketing and recruitment strategies can help, as can continued joint efforts of commerce and cultural resources officials, said Hamilton, who runs her own marketing, governmental relations and business development consulting company, Hamilton Planning. She previously spent about a year in business development with Cape Fear Paving.
In contrast to Hamilton’s stance, Dawson offered information from the Business Tax Index 2010 study published by the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, which ranked North Carolina No. 37 when considering several tax measures for entrepreneurship and small businesses.
"North Carolina has had a good reputation for many years of being a great place to live," Dawson said. "Then when businesses get here and when people move here they find out that the tax rates are high."
Dawson, an 11th generation North Carolinian and daughter of a Democrat father, is a member of the Cape Fear Museum of History and Science Advisory Board and a past member of the New Hanover Regional Medical Center Board of Trustees.
"This is a very diverse district," Dawson said. "I have established relationships between both the Democrat and the Republican parties across the state. I won’t have any trouble working with my fellow legislators to get things done if it’s in the best interest of our state and of our region."
Hamilton, who says she grew up in a house full of Republicans between Wilmington and Winston-Salem, is listed as a board member of Coastal Carolina Tomorrow on its web site. Coastal Carolina Tomorrow is a group of well connected development professionals which formed three years ago. The group’s website states the focus of the group is "projected forward to avoid being placed in a reactionary position on issues of importance to the development community." Melanie G. Cook, executive director and governmental relations, said Hamilton’s position on the board is suspended due to the election.
Hamilton previously served as executive director of the public-private organization Wilmington Downtown, Inc. She has served on several boards, including the Carousel Center for Abused Children, Historic Wilmington Foundation and Cucalorus Film Festival.
"It has helped me keep in touch with what the needs of the community are while balancing that with what the business opportunities are," Hamilton said.
But balancing North Carolina’s state budget, which has an expected deficit of about $3 billion, will be tough, both candidates said.
"2011 and 2012 are going to hurt," Hamilton said. "We have to focus on the core services of government at the state level."
That includes education and public safety, Hamilton said.
Dawson believes in zero-based budgeting, going through items line by line in the budget, and she added that she has had to deal with balancing tough budgets while serving on the hospital board.
"We need to stop this habit that the North Carolina General Assembly has had for decades of overspending when times are good and then not having a rainy day fund to fall back on when times are bad," said Dawson, whose endorsements include the North Carolina Police Benevolent Association. "Right now a lot of our budget is being funded with one-time federal stimulus money that’s not going to be there next year," she said.
Hamilton’s endorsements include the North Carolina Chapter of the Sierra Club and the North Carolina Chamber PAC, the chamber’s political action arm.
"Environmental protection and emerging economies that are associated with renewable energy sources and things along those lines are probably our future economy," Hamilton said.
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