GREENSBORO, N.C. — After years of debate, voters finally approved $1.7 billion in bonds for Guilford County to fix outdated and rundown school buildings. But now that money is on pause as a state commission has questions about the project.
Tuesday Guilford County will sit down with the Local Government Commission to address those concerns hoping to get the green light to move forward with selling the bonds to pay for construction. Ahead of that meeting, WFMY News 2's Ben Briscoe talked with the chair of the Commission, State Treasurer Dale Folwell.
BRISCOE: Parents heard this news that the bonds were on hold. Why is that?
FOLWELL: Several members of the commission had questions about the enormity of this bond offering. This amount of debt just seems so large in relation to for example the state debt that's going to outstanding in a couple of years, which is about the same amount of money. Pushing this down on the property tax owners is I think a very big deal. Our job, my job as the keeper of the public purse is to advocate for the invisible. People say it's only going to increase property taxes $20 a month, but you know $20 a month when people are paying so much to eat and live and heat their homes is kind of a big deal.
BRISCOE: Everyone wants lower property taxes, but don't we elect local representatives to make that decision for us? Why is the state getting to big foot them?
FOLWELL: That's a great question, the Local Government Commission was set up 80 years ago before I was the state treasurer. It was the result of Asheville having declared bankruptcy because they got out over their skis as far as a tax was concerned.
BRISCOE: Parents are still sending kids to schools where the walls are crumbling, the ACs aren't working. They are waiting and waiting. What would you tell them.
FOLWELL: What I would tell them is actually shame on the management of Guilford County because I think they said in our hearing the other day that some of this deferred maintenance had been out there since the mid-90s. Basically there had not been maintenance done on many of these buildings. And the buildings had not been put in the queue different from what people have experienced in Forsyth County where they constantly - every five to eight years - tried to refresh their buildings when needed, build new buildings when needed and replace buildings where they need.
BRISCOE: What happens if the commission does not sign off on these bonds?
FOLWELL: Well if the commission does not sign off on these bonds, then the county commissioners would have to go back to the drawing board.
We invited Guilford County Commission Chairman Skip Alston to respond to those claims. He declined an interview, saying he wanted to respectt he process and sending a statement reading:
"Given that this is still a pending matter before the LGC, we do not want to step outside of their established review process and would prefer to allow their staff and board members the opportunity to engage with us directly. We respect the LGC’s role in overseeing the state’s fiscal position and are confident in our fiscal repayment plan for the school bonds package. The $1.7 billion school bond is an important step to addressing the critical infrastructure needs in our schools and providing crucial safety and technology upgrades. The Board of Commissioners and School Board funded an independent study that identified more than $2 billion in current facility needs and prioritized fixing our most critical schools, those in poor and failing condition, first. Our voters saw the need and approved the bond issuance, the County is already setting aside funding for the debt repayments, and our county has the highest GO Bond credit rating possible from the three national rating agencies. We look forward to working with the LGC through their questions at our meeting next week and are happy to share the plans that were laid out in our public processes as we navigate these transformative improvements to our school infrastructure approved by our voters."
We also reached out to the Superintendent for an interview last week. We're still waiting to hear back from her.
Again the County and the State will meet Tuesday to address these concerns. We'll let you know what happens.