Commissioners approve putting $2.5 billion CMS bond on the ballot, but it’s not unanimous
Some members of the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners again expressed concerns Wednesday about the cost of a $2.5 billion bond referendum intended to fund up to 30 new schools across the county.
The board voted 5-3 at a Wednesday meeting to approve the referendum voters will see in the voting booth later this year. They previously OK’d putting it on the ballot via a budget vote, but a separate vote was required on the ballot language.
Commissioners Arthur Griffin, Pat Cotham and Vilma Leake voted against the measure. Board Chairman George Dunlap was absent from the meeting. Cotham and Griffin previously opposed the bond referendum while voting in June on the 2023-2024 budget.
Cotham, an at-large member of the board, said she voted against advancing the referendum because it would raise taxes.
“I was supportive of a billion-dollar bond, which is what we have given to CMS in the past and … would not add any increased taxes,” she said at Wednesday’s meeting.
Fellow at-large Commissioner Griffin said his decision to vote against the referendum was a difficult one because he’s been a vocal advocate for school bonds in years past.
“There are serious questions that have not been answered satisfactorily for me to go forward with this,” he said of the 2023 referendum.
Leake, who represents District 2 in southwest Mecklenburg County, questioned how many Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools buildings are currently sitting empty and whether the bond money would benefit communities throughout the county.
“I have some major concerns about the fairness of the process and how it has been orchestrated,” she said.
Other members of the board emphasized that Wednesday’s vote was largely procedural.
“What this board has done is voted to put (the referendum) on the ballot for the voters to decide. And that is all we did,” at-large Commissioner Leigh Altman said.
Mecklenburg County voters will decide the ultimate fate of the referendum — which would pay for 12 elementary schools, seven middle schools, 10 high schools and an athletic complex. The referendum will appear on general election ballots for November — not Charlotte’s September primary.
Will the CMS bond referendum raise taxes?
CMS’s original proposal called for almost $3 billion to be spent on school projects, a figure that State Treasurer Dale Folwell and county staff had expressed concerns about, the Observer reported previously.
The $2.5 billion figure voters will see was recommended by County Manager Dena Diorio in May.
Mecklenburg CFO David Boyd previously projected that if the referendum is approved by voters in November, there will be a need for a 1 cent tax increase in fiscal year 2025 and additional increases in future years to pay off the debt.
