Justice United march to the polls supports sales tax increase

Leaders and residents came from across the county Saturday morning to march in support of the proposed sales tax increase on the Nov. 2 ballot.

Justice United in Community Effort, a non-partisan citizens’ group, led about 100 people from a news conference at the United Church of Chapel Hill on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to vote at the Robert and Pearl Seymour Center voting poll on Homestead Road.

“One of the main points of getting out the vote that Justice United supports is the sales tax referendum,” said Stephanie Perry, the group’s organizer. “It supports the agenda that we’ve been working on all year for better services.”

The sales tax increase would consist of a quarter-cent hike from 7.75 percent to 8 percent and would not apply to grocery food items, medicine or gasoline.

The tax is expected to bring in $2.3 million annually, 42.5 percent of which would go toward economic development.

The remainder would benefit Orange County and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City schools, libraries and emergency services.

Justice United is an organization dedicated to making changes in social justice issues affecting the lives of low- and middle-income residents in the county.

Marchers identified much-needed improvements to the sewer system in the Efland area, citing increasing rates and neglected infrastructure.

Some Justice United marchers said the sewage rates for the Efland community could climb to an average of $121 per month due to the economy and the cost of sewage treatment.

“If rates continue to rise, my water bill is going to be as much as my mortgage,” said Sharon Sinclair, a speaker at the march and an Efland community leader.

Orange County Commissioner Bernadette Pelissier said none of the money from the tax, if passed, would directly go to the sewer system in Efland.

She said if the sales tax is passed, the Board of Orange County Commissioners might install a commercial sewage system along the Interstates 40 and 85 corridor, which would connect businesses as well as the Efland community to Mebane’s sewer system.

This means the Efland community would pay Mebane rates and not be subjected to the current increasing rates.

The speakers —who included Neil Pedersen, superintendent of Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, and Aaron Nelson, CEO of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce — all stressed the importance of unity when it comes to making positive changes in areas like the economy and civic infrastructure.

“The infrastructure portion of the tax in part will help bring a long-term solution to the issue of the irrational proposed rate structure,” Efland resident Sam Gharbo said.

“The march is a good way of drawing attention to the issue for the final voting day.”

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.