THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 12, 1995 TAG: 9503120280
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
An effort by state Rep. W.C. ``Bill'' Owens Jr. to let counties charge a sales tax for school construction is drawing more support than he expected.
About 50 representatives in the 120-member state House have signed on to the bill in its first days, Owens said Friday. If rules permit, the freshman legislator said, he hopes formally to introduce the measure within the next two weeks.
The bill would allow boards of county commissioners to levy an additional 1-cent local sales tax if county voters approved such a tax in a referendum. The revenue-raising effort could bring millions of dollars into strapped systems facing rising school-construction costs, Owens said.
As state-mandated class sizes drop and populations increase statewide, the cost of school facilities has been outstripping local governments' residential property tax bases.
As a result, counties - which traditionally are responsible for building and maintaining local schools - are sinking deeper into debt as they scramble to find project funds.
Several local counties, such as Currituck and Pasquotank, are wrestling with high-priced building plans in an effort to make room for their growing student populations.
``As you look across the state, there's a tremendous amount of need out there,'' said Ed Regan, deputy director of the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners, which backs Owens' measure.
Supporters of the proposal see it not as a tax increase but as an alternative to raising property taxes, Regan said. Owens still expects opposition from strong anti-tax legislators, but he thinks the concept has a chance.
Because the local sales tax would have to be approved by voters, Owens said, the state would not be levying a new tax. It would simply be giving counties more options.
``The main reason most people said they signed it was because . . . we tied it to a vote of the people,'' Owens said. ``The people that don't want it just don't like the word `tax.' But it's not a tax you're imposing on anybody.
``The most important thing is that it's a tax that people can pay a little as they go.''
Many House members resisting Owens' bill are from larger districts in the state. Under the bill, counties would receive portions of sales tax money based on population, not the proportion of funds they collect.
That provision would benefit smaller communities such as Camden and Tyrrell, where little sales tax money would be raised. But larger areas would ``collect more than they'll get back,'' Owens said.
Still, the freshman Democrat said he has garnered the support of 27 Democrats and 23 Republicans for the bill.
``I'm real surprised, to tell you the truth,'' Owens said. ``That was a lot more than I had ever dreamed of. . . . It's still got several hurdles.''
Owens' former colleagues on the Pasquotank County Board of Commissioners have been pinning their hopes on the possibility of the 1-cent tax.
Already seeking to borrow about $23 million to fix up some elementaries and build a new middle school, Pasquotank commissioners consider the sales tax their only hope for moving forward with a second high school in the near future.
``I see it as the difference between a new high school in the next four to five years, and no new high school,'' said Pasquotank County Commission Chairman Zee Lamb.
If all counties participated under Owens' proposed bill, the sales tax would bring in between $2.5 million and $3 million for Pasquotank County, officials said. And that total would be likely to grow every year.
To raise that much without a sales tax, commissioners would have to increase the already unpopular property tax by nearly 30 cents, Lamb said.
``We're talking about big bucks,'' Owens said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
by CNB