Guilford County to vote on sales tax increase on November ballot

GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — Guilford County voters will have a chance to vote on a sales tax increase in the general election in November.

If passed, it would benefit Guilford County Schools.

School district leaders say it’s estimated that it would be around $25 million in revenue every year.

“This is one small decision this November that may make a big difference,” Guilford Education Alliance President Zitty Nxumalo said.

Voters will decide if they are for or against a sales tax increase that is a fraction of a penny.

Guilford Education Alliance, a nonprofit focused on advocating for public schools, is in favor of the sales tax increase

“Our dollars reflect our priorities … As a state and as a county if we’re not allocating our dollars toward the things that matter to us then we really have to ask ourselves, ‘Where are our priorities?’” Nxumalo said.

If the increase is approved by voters, the money would help provide a pay increase to GCS teachers and the district’s front-line workers like those working in nutrition, custodians, bus drivers and front office secretaries.

“In Guilford County Schools, the supplement is 35% lower than it is in other districts that are very close to us, which means our excellent teachers could choose to leave the district to go work somewhere else,” Guilford County Schools Stakeholder Engagement Director Leah Carper said.

The current combined sales tax in Guilford County is 6.75%. The tax increase would raise the combined sales tax to 7%.

“Something I really think is important to note is that other counties are doing this. It’s not abnormal to be using tax money to directly impact school systems. In fact, our surrounding counties have a 7% sales tax already,” Carper said.

The question will be posed to voters at the bottom of the ballot, but it won’t say what the sales tax increase is for. This is due to a state statute.

“If people see tax, we automatically think … ‘That’s terrible.’ Well, it’s not the tax itself. It’s the way that the tax dollars are used. And if you don’t put in the language on the ballot that it’s the sales tax for educators, people don’t know what they’re voting for,” Nxumalo said.

The sales tax would not apply to prescriptions, cars, gas and groceries.

“We’ve got people coming into our county for Tanger, for the High Point furniture market, for GHOE. Why wouldn’t we leverage those dollars to allocate at least a tiny bit of that toward our educators?” Nxumalo said.

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