If at first you don’t succeed, then try, try again. That has been the mantra of the Orange County Board of County Commissioners as it works to implement a quarter-cent sales tax increase that failed in a vote last year.
The vote will require all voting locations to be open for the tax increase, leading Robert Randall, chairman of the Orange County North Carolina Republican Party, to criticize the board for not spending the county money efficiently. Both he and voters should understand that $85,000 is a small price to pay for the democratic process — and a tax that will protect county services and schools amid a sputtering economy.
Orange County residents will vote Nov. 8 on the tax increase, which failed by about 1,000 votes last year. The board expects the tax increase to help offset some of the pressure that comes with a struggling economy. The tax increase will result in a projected revenue of $2.5 million in the year following its implementation.
By deciding in June to put the vote on the November ballot and spend $50,000 publicizing it, the board is looking to make sure a lack of information doesn’t doom the tax increase like it did last year.
With the tax increase on the ballot for the coming election, the county will have to open all county voting locations when it normally would have only opened municipalities electing for new officials.
Bernadette Pelissier, chairwoman of the Board of County Commissioners, said there are hundreds of acres of land that can be put toward non-residential development. The tax increase will allow for this development and, theoretically, expand the county’s tax base.
Criticism of the cost to open all polling locations runs the risk of persuading residents to vote against their best interests. Residents should ignore the complaint and vote to invest in the county’s future prosperity.
