All about public education

Counties seeking revenue options must disseminate the facts to citizens

Educating the public about what counties do is never easy. Probably every commissioner in the state has had at least one constituent call to ask them to do something about the pothole in front of their house or to complain about their city utility bill.

Counties have been given a prime opportunity, however, to educate our citizens about what services we provide to enhance their quality of life. The revenue options given to counties by the General Assembly are an opportunity to do just that for our citizens.

In November, voters in five counties approved local-option quarter-cent sales tax referendums. This new revenue stream will give these counties a much-needed alternative to increasing the property tax rate to fund all the new schools, EMS stations, libraries, parks and recreation facilities and jails, among other items, that our citizens are demanding.

Even with the demands that citizens are making of their government, they are not going to grant any level of government – local, state or federal – additional taxing authority unless they believe it will be beneficial to the community. And there’s where education comes in.

The counties that were successful in November were able to convince their citizens that this alternate revenue source was needed to keep pace with the rapidly increasing infrastructure demands being caused by our state’s unprecedented growth. Some of these counties had been pursuing local revenue choices for years and, as a result, had already laid the foundation for a public education campaign.

They aggressively built their case in town forums, articles in local newspapers, appearances on talk radio programs and any other format that presented itself. They had stats to back up their case and were united in their approach.

Making this kind of case requires time, effort and a commitment from commissioners – especially in light of the well-funded campaigns of the opposition. It sounds daunting, but as we learned by results in Catawba, Martin, Pitt, Sampson and Surry counties, it can be done.

One thing is certain: Regardless of the outcome of the referendums, the infrastructure needs are not going away. The Census Bureau says our state is going to add another 3.5 million citizens over the next 25 years, swelling the ranks of our public school system by about 40 percent and further increasing the demand and need for classrooms, water, jails, open space, parks and libraries.

The Association will hold another daylong session on mounting successful public education campaigns, similar to the highly successful event that was held in September. Staff will review the results from November’s elections and present some case studies on what counties did and did not do that directly contributed to the outcome. The seminar will be held in Raleigh on Wednesday, Jan. 9. I strongly urge you to attend, especially if your county is considering pursuing one of these revenue options in the future.