Narrow majority approves county bonds on Nov. ballot
$554 million would include money for school construction
CARRIE LEVINE
Staff Writer
Mecklenburg County commissioners on Wednesday approved asking voters to borrow $554 million for county projects by putting it on the November ballot.
Five Democrats voted in favor of the bond issue. Republicans Bill James and Jim Puckett voted against $427 million for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools construction projects. Democrat Valerie Woodard voted against all the bonds. Commissioner Dan Bishop, a Republican, was absent.
Puckett and James said the schools need far less money to keep up with growth, and should cut back on renovating older schools because county residents can’t afford to spend that much.
But the five Democrats — along with several speakers at a public hearing on the bonds — said the schools need the money, and the older schools need the work.
Woodard said she voted against putting the bonds on the ballot because she did not believe the bonds could win widespread support among voters who are reeling from a 10.6 percent tax hike the board passed in June.
Charlotte Observer Article