LOST: Finally explained! Mysteries Solved! Secrets Revealed! Part 3

Previously on Death &Taxes, we learned that LOSTs and North Carolina’s local governments have a complicated relationship and that LOSTs favor some counties more than others. There are many important characters in the story of LOSTs and North Carolina.  There are the earmarks, the revenue that goes to the municipalities, the revenue that is distributed on a per capita basis, and the tax on food.  I will let you decide which is Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and Locke.  However, I am going to just come out and say, the black smoke monster is the issue of equity across the counties. This equity concern is the black smoke monster because it is a mystery, it is looming, everyone has an opinion—but it is just not clear what it is and what it means. What we do know is that it is important. So one of the difficult parts about discussing the equity concerns created by revenue raising capacity of LOSTs is deciding exactly what we are talking about.  The first decision that has to be made is: are we talking about total LOST revenue or are we talking about per capita LOST revenue?  This is a really important question because it fundamentally