Guilford County superintendent, commissioner react to sales tax referendum failure
Guilford County voters rejected Tuesday a proposed quarter-cent bump in the sales tax rate that county and school officials had hoped to use to bolster pay for teachers and other school employees.
The proposal failed by a margin of 60-40, with 158,261 cast against the measure and 106,261 in favor, according to the unofficial results posted by the N.C. State Board of Elections. The results will be certified during canvassing on Nov. 15.
The measure failed in all but around 30 of the county's 165 precincts. The pockets of support for the proposal were in Greensboro and High Point.
This marks the third time in four years Guilford County residents have voted down a proposed sales tax increase.
Even with the failure in the referendum, teacher advocates and leaders in the school system struck an optimistic note following the release of the election returns.
A statement released by Guilford County Schools Wednesday pointed out that the proposal received more support this year than in 2008 and 2020, the previous years it was on the ballot.
"I am immensely grateful to the more than 100,000 voters who supported our teachers and frontline workers," Superintendent Whitney Oakley said in the release. "This strong backing reflects our community's commitment to education.
Karen Deal, the vice president of the advocacy group Guilford Education Alliance, which served as a major backer of the referendum proposal, expressed a similar view.
"We're encouraged that we've moved the needle," she said. "It was a very short runway for us, a quick campaign and so we were realistic about that, that this was a little bit of a long shot."
Both Deal and Oakely said they believed limitations placed on the ballot wording were a factor in the rejection of the sales tax increase.
State law prohibited the wording on the ballot from stipulating how funds from the tax would be used. Had the proposal passed, Guilford County commissioners would have had discretion on how to use the money and would not be able to bind the decisions of future boards.
However, both the county commissioners and the school board had approved resolutions stating their intent to use the tax proceeds to raise the pay for teachers and other school employees.
Commissioner Melvin "Skip" Alston, the chair of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, said Wednesday morning he was disappointed with the outcome of the referendum.
He attributed the failure of the measure to the issue being overshadowed by other campaigns this year as well as the fact that the county could not specify on the ballot that funding would be used for school pay.
"I really think that the will is there and I think that the people would do it if they really understood what it was going to go for, so we have to work on the messaging," Alston said.
He said fighting for the legal authority to put the language regarding the use of tax proceeds would be important if the county is going to enact the additional sales tax.
Without the context, Alston said, "everybody runs away form that three-letter word, tax"
Alston said he sees the sales tax as the only viable option for filling in the school pay gaps because county commissioners oppose raising property taxes for that purpose.
The morning after the vote, Alston said he heard from business leaders who wanted to discuss ways to advance the sales tax effort.
"It's going to be some tough conversations over the next few months and I'm willing to have those conversations with the school board, with the community and with the business community to see how we might be able to do this without raising property taxes," Alston said. "I don't think that burden should be put only on property taxpayers. It should be spread out."
In the statement released Wednesday, school system leaders also pledged to continue to push for higher pay for their teachers and employees at both the county and state levels.
"The results from last night should not deter us from investing in our educators. In these crucial times, our students need exceptional educators by their side more than ever," Oakley said via the release. "We must remain committed to enhancing student achievement, which begins with successfully recruiting and retaining top-tier educators."
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