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“Try, try, try just a little bit harder.”


Janis Joplin threw her heart and soul into that song on her 1969 “I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama!” album, and Guilford County commissioners should do the same if they put another sales-tax proposal on the ballot.

Previous bids to raise the local sales tax were rejected twice by voters in 2008 — emphatically. Most commissioners endorsed the initiatives but didn’t campaign for them with much enthusiasm, if at all.

The proposed quarter-cent increase would have raised $16 million annually. In May 2008, voters approved borrowing for school and jail construction and other projects. Additional sales-tax revenue could have helped pay the debt.

The county’s debt-service cost will increase to about $40 million next year, Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin “Skip” Alston said this week. He added that the new jail will require greater operational costs.

Schools, law enforcement, public health, social services and other programs also must be funded. Commissioners cut enough to avoid raising property taxes this year, but no one is making promises about next year.

The sales tax offers a good way to spread the burden more evenly among property owners and consumers. They’re mostly the same taxpayers, but not entirely. Local retailers draw customers from outside Guilford County; their contributions to local sales-tax revenues could help ease the burden on Guilford taxpayers.

The sales tax is regressive, hitting low-income consumers harder because they’re compelled to spend most or all of what they have. But the property tax can be cruel for people who own homes but whose incomes have fallen during these tough times.

Commissioners can find good reasons to place another quarter-cent sales-tax increase on the November ballot, but if they do they must work to educate voters about the county’s financial position and options. A tax hike won’t sell itself. This time they’ll have to ...

“Try oh yeah, just a little bit harder.”