CHARLOTTE, NC — If you own a home in Mecklenburg County, you may have to pay higher property taxes so teachers can get a raise. 61 percent of voters in Mecklenburg said ‘No” to a quarter-cent sales tax hike on Tuesday. It would have generated an estimated $28 million for teacher salaries.
County Commission Chair Trevor Fuller (D) says he plans to have a community conversation about other options, including a three cent property tax hike. “We’ve got to address it. We cannot long sustain losing a thousand teachers a year. Can’t happen. Not if we want to continue to have a prosperous community,” said Fuller.
School leaders say they’re also committed to pushing for teacher raises. School board Chair Mary McCray says she thinks the sales tax proposal was doomed even before Superintendent Heath Morrison announced his resignation Monday.
