NC's Needs Increase While Per Capita Spending Drops by 6.4%

From the desk of NC State Representative Verla Insko, of Orange County, co-chair of the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Mental Health Reform:

"The table shows a few interesting things over this time period:

1. The state budget has increased .4 percent ($92 million)
2. Population has grown 7.3 percent (650,000)
3. K-12 enrollment inched up 2.9 percent (41,000)
4. UNC enrollment grew 9.8 percent (20,000)
5. Community college enrollment jumped 27.7 percent (53,000)

The state is doing more with its money. Budgets are stretched, despite claims there have been no hard choices out of this legislature. Per capita spending in actual dollars (not adjusted for inflation) has fallen from $2,127 to $1,991, a decline of 6.4 percent. "