City and county government cost on average $2,863 per capita in Wilmington during fiscal year 2004. This cost was 42 percent higher than Wilmington’s per-capita spending in 1994. As real per-capita personal income increased just 13 percent over the 10-year study period, operations costs climbed 35 percent and capital spending nearly doubled over the decade. No large city in North Carolina had faster spending growth than Wilmington did.
by Joseph Coletti
Senior Fellow, Fiscal Studies, John Locke Foundation