News-Record.com

Wednesday's lead editorial.

Seven Guilford County commissioners made an important promise to taxpayers last week. The other four all but promised to undermine it.

Commissioners have had their differences before, but last Thursday’s vote on a resolution expressing the board’s intent to spend sales-tax revenue to pay school construction debt revealed a particularly ugly split.

One faction was warning the public not to trust the other. So much for building faith in government.

This vote didn’t have to take place. It had been decided earlier that voters will be asked in November whether to approve an additional quarter-cent local sales tax. But proponents wanted to put themselves on record with a pledge: If voters approve the tax, commissioners will apply the money — about $15 million a year — toward paying off school bonds.

Four commissioners objected, on two grounds: first, that voters already rejected a sales-tax hike in May, by a 3-to-1 margin; and second, that commissioners can’t hold a future board to their resolutions.

Both points are correct, but so what? There’s no harm in giving voters another chance to say yes or no in November, and it’s understood the commissioners weren’t signing a legally binding contract. They were making a promise to their constituents. They wanted voters to know it’s their plan to use sales-tax income to offset some of the property-tax revenue that otherwise must be used to cover school construction debt.

The four commissioners who opposed the promise continued to fight a battle they’d already lost over the second sales-tax referendum. Worse, they questioned the honesty of their colleagues. Beyond that, they raised doubts about their own intentions. Whether they want it or not, after all, they just might get this sales-tax revenue if voters approve. Will they not apply it to school construction debt? What better use do they have in mind?

Three commissioners who voted for the resolution — Kirk Perkins, Paul Gibson and John Parks — are up for re-election in November. If they’re defeated, that will leave only four commissioners who made the pledge, a minority of the board. No one else would be bound to honor the promise.

But it makes sense to do so. County voters in May said yes to massive borrowing for school construction. This will place a heavy tax burden on many property owners. Additional sales-tax revenue dedicated to paying school bond debt can broaden the tax base and ease the load on some taxpayers.

Seven commissioners are making an honest effort to pay off the county’s obligations in a fair and prudent way. They didn’t deserve to have their integrity attacked.