Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Sales Tax Referendum topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board backs county sales-tax referendum intended to boost teacher and frontline pay
Summary
The board passed a resolution urging Guilford County voters to consider a fraction-of-a-cent sales-tax referendum on the Nov. 2024 ballot to fund a local supplement for teacher and frontline worker pay; the measure was presented as not applying to essentials and estimated to address a 35% local pay gap vs. peer counties.
The Guilford County Board of Education voted Aug. 13 to adopt a resolution supporting a Guilford County sales-tax referendum on the Nov. 2024 ballot intended to generate local supplemental funds for teacher and frontline-worker pay.
Board member Pastor Shores introduced the resolution, which cites a June 20, 2024 directive from the Guilford County Board of Commissioners asking that the county's Board of Elections place a referendum on the ballot. The resolution describes the proposed levy as a "fraction of a penny" sales-and-use tax that would not apply to essential items such as gas, groceries or prescription drugs and said an example impact would be "the equivalent of 5 additional pennies for a $20 purchase." It states a purpose of using any proceeds provided to Guilford County Schools to increase compensation without supplanting other funds.
The resolution also includes a district estimate that its current teacher salaries are "35% lower than those of peer counties," language read into the record during the item presentation. Board members debated funding options; board member Diane Bellamy Smalls said county commissioners should increase school funding and said she intended to abstain but the board clerk noted abstention rules and recorded her vote as yes.
Pastor Shores framed the referendum as a way to make local teacher salaries more competitive for recruitment and retention and to help frontline staff such as cafeteria workers, custodial staff, mechanics and bus drivers. The motion passed on a recorded voice vote as described in the transcript.
