GREENSBORO, N.C. — When you vote, you're looking at a two-page ballot. In Guilford County, voters will want to pay close attention to the end of the ballot because voters have two school funding issues. One is a bond, the other is a sales tax increase.
Don't miss these two items at the bottom of the ballot:
$300 million bonds for Guilford County Schools. This is for new school facilities, improving existing ones as well as furnishings and equipment.
1/4 % local sales tax raise. This would help pay for the repair and renovation of Guilford County School buildings.
Here's an important note to know, if the bond referendum passes but the sales tax increase fails, it's likely property taxes would go up to cover the bond.
You might be asking, why is this on the ballot? Go back in November 2019,
the district released a $2 billion master plan to overhaul the district's aging schools. No school would be left untouched.
But the plan needs funding in order to begin. This is usually where we get questions about lottery money. In Guilford County, lottery money totaled $31 million last year. Of that, $5 million was used on school construction.
The school system doesn't get to decide how the lottery money is spent--- state lawmakers decide.