Campaign begins for increase in sales tax : News-Record.com : Greensboro & the Triad's most trusted source for local news and analysis

GREENSBORO — The battle over raising the local sales tax is growing more intense with a vote on the pivotal issue less than a month away.

Today, Quarter Cent Makes Sense, a referendum committee that includes heavy hitters in Guilford County business, education and politics, will unveil a billboard campaign that supports raising the local sales tax from 7.75 cents per dollar spent to 8 cents.

Opponents, too, have been active, using an automated phone-calling campaign in at least one county commissioner’s district.

At the heart of it all is a debate about the merits of increasing a key revenue source for county government. When the Guilford County Board of Commissioners decided in August to put the increase to voters, many called it an uphill battle. Voters, after all, had rejected the increase twice in 2008.

The group supporting the increase — Quarter Cent Makes Sense — registered with the county elections board on Sept. 23 with $500 in its coffers. Mary Skenes, a member of the county board of adjustment and the Greensboro zoning board, is treasurer. The group’s steering committee includes developer Roy Carroll, attorney Henry Isaacson, former Greensboro Mayor Yvonne Johnson and Guilford County commissioners’ Chairman Melvin “Skip” Alston.

Alston said it’s never easy to get people to vote for a tax increase, but in this case it may be the lesser of two evils.

“We are in a position now, because of voter-approved debt for bond projects, where to pay for some of these things there is going to have to be an increase,” he said.

The county estimates an 8-cent property tax increase would be needed to pay down bond debt. Alston said the commissioners could keep that increase to 5 cents if the quarter-cent sales tax passes, allowing the county to generate an extra $12 million a year.

“We’ve tried the last two years to have no increases at all,” Alston said. “But now these bills are coming due and we’re going to have to pay them, one way or another.”

But critics say that if a tax increase is the best solution the commissioners can come up with, they aren’t trying very hard.

Jeff Hyde is the Republican challenging state Sen. Don Vaughan in the 27th District. He’s also the co-founder of Conservatives for Guilford County, a registered political action committee that hosted a Tax Day Tea Party in downtown Greensboro in April.

The group wants to see the county cut spending rather than raise taxes.

“These bond projects were approved back in 2008,” he said. “The commissioners ought to be bright enough to figure out times are different now. If the voters had to vote on them now, the vote would be different. We need to hold out on these things and look at where we can be cutting, in every department, until we’re not spending more money than we have.”

The sales tax increase has become a political problem for some Republican commissioners. Steve Arnold was the only “no” vote on putting the increase on the ballot. Linda Shaw has faced two rounds of automated calls in her district criticizing her vote.

The calls are financed by Don Wendelkin, one of the founders of the Triad chapter of Americans for Prosperity, a tea party group, and former political opponent of Shaw.

“If she’s going to call herself a conservative, then the voters should know when she’s acting like a Republican in name only,” he said.

Shaw said she was not bothered by the pressure.

“I was a Republican when Don Wendelkin was in diapers,” she said. “And I was building the conservative base of the party then.

“But when it comes to a tax increase, when it comes to bonds, I’m always for putting it in front of the voters and letting them make up their own minds.”

Contact Joe Killian at 373-7023 or joe.killian@news-record.com

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October 5, 2010 - 7:38 am EDT

Remember the good ol days of 4% tax...I think that we were told that it would only come down...1/4 cent here, 1/2 cent there...IT NEVER GOES DOWN...DO WITH LESS, not take more from me! My across the VA trips will happen more and even better when I am in Charlotte and the SC line is so close by.

Get the facts

October 5, 2010 - 9:31 am EDT

Don't you think you should have been saying this when the bonds were voted on. If you will remember, when the bonds were approved it was as if there was a money tree somewhere and everyone was thinking of getting a new or remodeled school in their district.

dont tread on me

October 5, 2010 - 7:58 am EDT

Why can't the state be like my business and every other business during these tough times. You have to make cuts and you have to make do with less. Our budget has been cut over the past two years, and if you do not have it you learn how to do what you can with what you have. A concept lost on the state government no doubt. If they get this increase will it reduce the budget? No...they will just spend it all before they get one cent of revenue in the bank and be back right where we started.

This whole we need more money crock is starting to get old, we pay enough...now learn to make do with what you have like every other viable business in the country.

October 5, 2010 - 9:36 am EDT

First of all, this article is about the county not the state. Your business made it's own decisions about purchases and in this case voters made the decision without thought as to how to pay for it. As a property owner, I hope this cost is spread across everyone instead of covered by an increase in property taxes. I am supporting way too many people now that drain the government and add nothing to it. Also, your business cut it's budget most likely because of a reduction in customers. Unfortunately, during a recession the government has an increase in "customers". How do you cut when demand is up and need to cover costs that were approved by the same people that are now complaining about it?

Real American

October 5, 2010 - 9:51 am EDT

You simply say NO, Make people personally responsible and hold elected officials accountable. Tax and Spend is not the answer. I have seen the County budget and there are so many entitlements and giveaways to special interests that its repulsive. If the County Commissioners were atleast open to the idea of cutting some of these handouts to thier voting base, I could get on board with a small tax increase. But they absolutely refuse to cut spending. I have even heard one of them say the' Taxpayers won't care if you raise taxes after you do it, they forget about it" I agree that any increases should be spread amongst all citizens, but they know the citizens will not pass a sales tax increase, then they can put it all on the property owners. You know, the Evil Rich.

Panacea

October 5, 2010 - 10:05 am EDT

There's going to have to be a property tax increase anyway. The sales tax increase won't cover the expenses. It just spreads the pain to everyone, not just property owners.

October 5, 2010 - 11:01 am EDT

My point was that it could be a much smaller property tax increase if they would stop handing our money out to people for thier own personal gain. Stop defending what these people are doing until you investigate thier corruption.

October 5, 2010 - 10:40 am EDT

Well 'get the facts' my business did inded lose business but you don't have all the facts yourself. There is an inherent cost on the back end in my business with less revenue to support it. With some good ideas by all and a little thinking outside the box we were able to get more done with less. It has to happen sometimes. Such is busines, cash flow is cyclical and you can't spend money you don't have. Again a concept the govt has not quite grasp on any level..city ,county, state, or federal.

But it would have been much easier on us if we could just raise rates (taxes) when we needed more money when consumers can't afford it. Unfortunately we had to do it the hard way

johnodrake

October 5, 2010 - 8:27 am EDT

It is so easy to spend other peoples money! Spend, tax;spend, tax. We always 'need' something. It is time to start prioritizing those needs and quit spending what you don't have. If the tax is raised, I'll shop elsewhere on principal.

October 5, 2010 - 8:42 am EDT

This is what you get with Tax and Spend Liberals. They don't know anything else, its always lets spend other people's money.

histrion

October 5, 2010 - 8:50 am EDT

As opposed to the "Don't tax yet spend" conservatives, eh?

October 5, 2010 - 9:15 am EDT

Typical Liberal insanity, the last administration was fiscally irresponsible, so we want to spend more than they did.

October 5, 2010 - 10:06 am EDT

And yet . . . conservatives are talking a lot about cutting taxes, and not so much about cutting spending.

October 5, 2010 - 10:32 am EDT

"not so much about cutting spending''

You have got to be kidding right? Or do you get all your info from the Huffington Post?

You can not honestly sit there and say conservatives are not talking about cutting spending.

October 5, 2010 - 10:49 am EDT

Panacea: Surely you can come up with a better line than that, like Blame Bush or We have to pass the bill to find out whats in it. Laughable............

kurgun

October 5, 2010 - 9:13 am EDT

Well right now the government is suing 3 major credit cards, what they should do if they really need money so badly, look at the FTC statistics for the state of North Carolina. Then look at all the businesses that people have filed complaints over that are of major concern to the public. Then all they need to do is threaten to sue those companies that do bad business for settlement money not to take them to court. Think of all the money they'd have if they did this, then there would be no need for a tax hike. But it's just easier making the working class pay for it than going after the businesses that shouldn't be a business to begin with.

October 5, 2010 - 9:18 am EDT

Yeah, lets put all those Evil business owners out of business, then we will go get a real job, oh wait.....

October 5, 2010 - 10:08 am EDT

Not put them out of business. Make them conduct business honestly.

October 5, 2010 - 10:51 am EDT

Define " conduct business honestly", I would love to hear your interpretation.

October 5, 2010 - 10:07 am EDT

While I agree the government should do more to deal with dishonest business practices, you don't do that counting on a source of revenue for your budget.

newkid

October 5, 2010 - 10:16 am EDT

The issue here is not that government ought to spend less money (that's a legitimate issue though), it's whether to increase the sales tax. And sales taxes are one of the most regressive taxes available--the person who makes $18,000 per year pays not a whole lot less than the one who makes $180,000 per year. Progressive taxes on the other hand, such as income taxes, can require proportional participation by all taxpayers.

So how (and how much) the government should spend its revenue stream is really another issue; the larger question is how the government taxes its citizens: hurting the lower and middle classes with regressive taxes or spreading the burden to all with progressive taxes.

October 5, 2010 - 10:55 am EDT

Yeah, lets soak the Evil Rich, Spread the Wealth Around, after all we are entitled to other people's money.

StopSpendingMyMoney

October 5, 2010 - 10:33 am EDT

I voted against the bonds when times were better. And I voted yes on the sales tax increase back then too. Homeowners always get hit with property tax increases and raising the sales tax is the way to spread the burden across everyone who spends not just a fixed number of people who own property.

That being said, in this economy I wouldn't raise any taxes -- esp. not for bond projects. People need jobs not a $20 million dollar aquatic center. All bond projects should be on temporary hold. And yes, I realize some of these project would create jobs but while unemployment is so high in the Triad and while people need every penny to pay bills -- the county shouldn't raise ANY taxes. Skip - go find us some more stimulus $ to pay for the bonds. Stay out of my wallet!

October 5, 2010 - 10:57 am EDT

He already did that and decided to build a hotel downtown. BIG COMMISSION check for good old Skip..........

cityofchange

October 8, 2010 - 10:32 am EDT

No one in the forum has stated the importance of sales tax increases when you have high visitor,convention or tourism business. You have out of towners coming in using your resources and you fit the bill for it (trash,police,roads, etc.) Greensboro is the gateway to the western part of the state,also you have the furniture market,Koury convention center one of the largest in the southeast, A&T homecoming. If you add a 1/4 cent increase just the furniture market and A&T homecoming would bring in more than the residents of Guilford county all year. In this day and time of increased partisan arguements the actual business at hand gets lost. The bonds were voted for by the residents. Guilford county should have a more active tourism and convention board who actually are doing things to bring more people to the city to make the tax increase work. Look at Charlotte. You have the Panthers, Bobcats, Nascar CIAA and over 100 large meetings or conventions everyday. They have the highest tax burden in the state but the residents do not complain because a big block of the tax revenue is generated by visitors or tourist.

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