In last year's Technical Corrections Bill (a bill passed each session generally intended to correct and clarify drafting errors and unintended consequences of bills enacted during that session) the General Assembly accidentally repealed G.S. 160A-211(a), which deleted the authority of towns and cities to levy the privilege license tax effective January 1, 2014.  Supporting the claim that the deletion was accidental was another section of the Technical Corrections Bill which amended the privilege tax, while a separate bill enacted last session called for a study of the privilege tax.

So not only will the debate over the privilege tax be lively this session, it will also be messy.