So, we these get anonymous callers ...
Most of the time, we simply ignore the calls asking for us to investigate the great ketchup famine of 1996 or the relationship of some elected official to Area 57.
This morning was a touch different when a caller asked about who pays for these bonds, particularly the school bonds.
The caller wanted to know what happened to the North Carolina Education Lottery proceeds that were intended to build new schools. Then the caller implied that people who don't own property in Guilford County are probably the folks who voted for the bonds, because renters don't have to pay property tax.
We reported last year that the North Carolina Education Lottery wasn't putting up the revenue that was expected. Here's a handy .pdf showing the breakdown from the 2006-07 ticket sales.
While the lagging lottery isn't the only reason bond supporters used to justify that the schools needed the money, it is one of many factors.
As for the property-owners-only-pay-property-tax argument, it's true only to the extent that the person who owns the land pays the property tax bill. Rest assured, every time rent goes up for a person, a part of that increase also goes to cover higher property taxes.
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We need to come up with better ideas for constantly shifting school populations than building large, immobile buildings, such as inventing helicopter-deliverable or ultra-transportable all-inclusive self-contained stackable connect-able Learn-O-Pods. When the need for a larger school arose, it would be just a matter of ordering a few more units. When population dwindles, send those units elsewhere. Maintenance would be unit-based and easily pinpointed.
Posted on May 8, 2008 6:30 PM