MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — There is less than a month until voters go to the polls to decide if Mecklenburg County will see a quarter-cent hike in the sales tax.
The county plans to divide the new revenue this way if the referendum passes:
- $17 million or 34% would go to expand parks and greenways
- $22 million or 45% would go for local arts and cultural programs
- $8 million or 16% would benefit investments in teacher salaries and teaching assistants
- $2.5 million would be distributed to towns across the county
At a ceremony Friday in Greenville Park in Charlotte, basketball great Michael Jordan joined with Lowe’s in unveiling a newly refurbished basketball court in the park.
County Commission Chairman George Dunlap, who attended the ceremony, said passing the tax hike would benefit other kids in other neighborhoods while also helping teachers in local classrooms.
“Its an opportunity to fund teachers so they don’t have to take money out of their own pockets to pay for things in their classrooms,” Dunlap said.
But Commissioner Vilma Leake, who also attended the ceremony, said the county was facing too many other critical shortages to see so much new money targeted for the arts.
“If they break it down greater, I would have some consideration, but its too much money for the Arts and Science Council,” Leake said.
New CMS Superintendent Earnest Winston said he was prohibited from taking a stand on the referendum but did not try very hard to hide his feelings about it as he watched kids playing on the new court.
“As you can see, our students who are playing on this newly refurbished court, we need opportunities like this across our entire community for all of our kids,” he said.
Similar referendums have not fared well in the past. In 2014, a sales tax hike to benefit education and the arts failed 61% to 39%.