Dollar a pack

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Gov. Beverly Perdue's budget proposal released Tuesday seeks a dollar-per-pack increase in North Carolina's cigarette tax and higher alcohol taxes to help narrow the state's $3.4 billion budget gap for the coming year. Perdue's proposal would increase the cigarette tax from 35 cents per pack to $1.35 and seek a 5 percent tax surcharge on alcohol, according to a copy of Perdue's two-year budget proposal reviewed Tuesday by The Associated Press before the governor's formal announcement.