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Topsail Beach resident urges Pender County commissioners to place 1.25-cent sales-tax increase on ballot to fund teacher pay
Summary
During public comment, Topsail Beach resident Tim Zizak urged the board to ask county commissioners to add a 1.25-cent local sales-tax increase to the ballot and earmark proceeds for teacher pay, citing reserve fund levels and annual sales-tax revenue estimates.
Tim Zizak, a Topsail Beach resident who signed up to address the board, urged local leaders to press county commissioners for more school funding and to place a sales-tax question before voters.
"I request I would like the board of of commissioners to add 1.25 sales tax increase on the ballot," Zizak said, and suggested that any increase be earmarked for teacher pay. He told the board the county reserve had been about $61,000,000 before an $11,000,000 allocation for EMS and described a 2.5 percent county share of sales tax that he said generates "over $20,000,000 annually." Zizak framed the request as a response to reduced state funding for the district and urged the board to return to the county with any additional needs identified at a joint meeting.
Board members thanked Zizak for traveling to speak and noted the procedural limits on public comments. Several trustees said the subject merited further discussion with county commissioners and suggested the board could advocate jointly for additional local funding. The public-comment segment concluded without action; the board did not place a sales-tax item on its own agenda during the meeting.
