{"id":2848,"date":"2026-07-05T19:39:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T19:39:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=2848"},"modified":"2026-07-05T19:39:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T19:39:27","slug":"help-me-make-this-nc-budget-math-make-sense-opinion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=2848","title":{"rendered":"Help me make this NC budget math make sense | Opinion"},"content":{"rendered":"

I fail to understand how the state budget makes sense. Apparently correctional institutions are short 20-60 officers and 33% of the nursing staff. So officers will get raises of about 27%. But the state is eliminating 574 vacant positions to fund the increases. So how does this solve the staffing shortages?<\/p>\n

Read more Thank you, Richard Childress, for representing NC at the Great American State Fair | Opinion<\/a><\/p>\n

Robert D. Brown, Cary<\/i><\/p>\n

The Social Security shortfall that is predicted to occur in a few years\u2019 time could lead to a 22% across-the-board reduction in retirement benefits. Let\u2019s hope this does not come to pass, but if it does, we should ensure that it does not fall hardest on those who can least afford it. Some 10 million retirees rely on SS for 90% or more of their income. For some it is *all* of their income. And these people\u2019s benefits tend to be low because they had a low income during their working years.<\/p>\n

In contrast, an estimated 2-4% of retirees have non-SS annual income above $100,000 from pensions and investments.These are also the people with the highest SS benefits due to their high lifetime earnings. Yes, these folks earned their benefits by paying into the system, no doubt of that. But if we have to decide whose benefits are cut, we should do it from a place of compassion and humanity.<\/p>\n

Peter Aitken, Chapel Hill<\/i><\/p>\n

Once again, state retirees were slighted in the new budget with a 2.5% one-time bonus, and not a permanent Cost Of Living Adjustment. State retirees haven\u2019t had a measurable COLA in 25 years, and eight of those years we had no COLA, or one-time bonus. Our illustrious legislature may not know, actually, I don\u2019t think they care, but retirees are currently, and have been, paying the same high prices as everyone else for groceries, gas, insurance, and everything else going up in cost.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure lawmakers are slapping themselves on the back today, saying, look what we did, we passed a budget, albeit a year overdue, giving everyone working in state government a little piece of the pie. But I\u2019d like to remind them, state retirees hardly got a piece of the crust, let alone, the filling.<\/p>\n

Partha Howell, Beaufort<\/i><\/p>\n

As reported on 6\/26, the Environmental Protection Agency recently publicized the results of their settlement with chemical company Chemours, who dumped toxic PFAS into the Cape Fear River for decades. The EPA framed the roughly $2M per year payout to North Carolina for PFAS pollution remediation as a win for holding corporate polluters accountable.<\/p>\n

This is hypocritical, since at the same time, EPA is proposing to roll back federal PFAS drinking water standards for four kinds of PFAS, including the chemical involved in the settlement. This rollback will have catastrophic health effects. It is clear that Trump\u2019s EPA would rather serve corporate interests than protect the health of the American people.<\/p>\n

Victoria Gualario, Durham<\/i><\/p>\n

On June 25, the Supreme Court of the United States announced its TPS decision regarding Haitian and Syrian immigrants, giving the Executive Branch the authority to terminate these TPS programs.<\/p>\n

Read more More NC Republicans are unexpectedly standing up to Trump | Opinion<\/a><\/p>\n

There is an ongoing armed conflict in Haiti which also has suffered an earthquake. SCOTUS also ignores the racial animus behind the TPS decisions made by the Executive Branch by simply ignoring terrible comments made by the executive branch, such as Haitians are eating the dogs, poisoning the blood of our country, etc.<\/p>\n

Finally, to my white brothers and sisters who applaud the decision, this is a diversion tactic by the rich and powerful. Do you really think they feel any brotherhood towards you, the poor?<\/p>\n

Reginald Mombrun, Durham<\/i><\/p>\n

A recent post on the Nextdoor app for Wood\u2019s Edge in Durham struck a nerve: 190 responses and counting.<\/p>\n

The topic was simple: the small acts of inconsideration we see every day. A cart left in a parking space. A car blocking an accessible space. A driver texting. A person who does not move over, hold the door, return the cart, or take the few extra seconds to make life easier for someone else.<\/p>\n

The point was not that these shortcuts are dramatic or malicious. It was that they shift the burden. What saves one person a little time can cost someone else effort, safety, patience, or peace of mind. The comments mostly agreed. But some also asked a useful question: What about the positive side? Someone lets you go ahead in line because you only have a few items. Thumbs up. Someone returns a stray cart. Thumbs up. Someone who pauses to let you cross safely, moves over on the sidewalk, holds the door, waits patiently, picks up what someone else dropped, or takes the extra few seconds to make life easier for the next person. Thumbs up.<\/p>\n

We notice inconsideration all the time. Maybe we should make a habit of noticing consideration, too. A thumbs-up is a simple way to say, \u201cI noticed. Thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beth Andrachick Hauptle, Durham<\/i><\/p>\n

This story was originally published July 5, 2026 at 5:00 AM<\/span> with the headline “Help me make this NC budget math make sense | Opinion.” <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Read more First budget sent to Gov. Josh Stein includes taking some appointment power away<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our readers comment on PFAS hypocrisy and Trump, Social Security shortfall, Supreme Court\u2019s TPS decision, and appreciating small gestures | Letters to the Editor<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2847,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nHelp me make this NC budget math make sense | Opinion - \u0421harlotte Relocation Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=2848\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Help me make this NC budget math make sense | Opinion - \u0421harlotte Relocation Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Our readers comment on PFAS hypocrisy and Trump, Social Security shortfall, Supreme Court\u2019s TPS decision, and appreciating small gestures | Letters to the Editor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=2848\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"\u0421harlotte Relocation Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-05T19:39:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=2848#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=2848\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8dbe691609d05fbc6dbaa5c440b54a93\"},\"headline\":\"Help me make this NC budget math make sense | Opinion\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-05T19:39:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=2848\"},\"wordCount\":884,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=2848#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/b6e99b0189e8ac74ee2e7333de939f05.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Read today's Edition\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=2848#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=2848\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=2848\",\"name\":\"Help me make this NC budget math make sense | Opinion - \u0421harlotte Relocation Guide\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=2848#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=2848#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/b6e99b0189e8ac74ee2e7333de939f05.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-05T19:39:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8dbe691609d05fbc6dbaa5c440b54a93\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=2848#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=2848\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=2848#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/b6e99b0189e8ac74ee2e7333de939f05.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/b6e99b0189e8ac74ee2e7333de939f05.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675,\"caption\":\"Rep. 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