Sticker shock? Mecklenburg commissioners react to CMS’ nearly $3 billion proposal
On top of inflation and property tax revaluation, Mecklenburg County commissioners will have to consider another budget item in 2023: a nearly $3 billion bond proposal for schools.
The Board of County Commissioners is expected to hear about the 30-project funding proposal Saturday, March 4, a step toward getting the project on voters’ ballots in November. It could be the biggest public school bond referendum in the state if the $2.997 billion proposal makes it to the ballot. But commissioners need to give their OK first.
It’s going to be a “really difficult” thing to do, at-large Commissioner Leigh Altman said.
“I am really looking forward to collaborating with them to try to meet the needs of CMS schools while balancing all of our other capital needs at a time where we need to be sensitive to the burden on residents to fund projects,” Altman told The Charlotte Observer.
Consumers already face higher costs. Average consumer spending grew 6.4% over the past year, according the the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Mecklenburg County property owners, meanwhile, will receive revaluation notices next month that are expected to reflect steep rises in value, something the county will have to consider when setting the tax rate.
The bonds would be general obligation, meaning they’re backed by the county’s ability to levy taxes on its residents. But CMS hasn’t talked yet about whether the nearly $3 billion proposal would necessitate a property tax increase.
The bonds would allow CMS to address capacity issues and get students out of outdated schools, a CMS consultant told the district’s board earlier this month. Most of the projects in the bond package involve new school buildings on existing properties.
“We might have some sticker shock, but we all have sticker shock,” said District 6 Commissioner Susan Rodriguez-McDowell said. “If we don’t invest, who will, right? We know the state’s not investing.”
Rodriguez-McDowell and District 5 Commissioner Laura Meier advocated to increase CMS’ funding last year along with parents and teachers while other members of the board and the county manager held that problems within the school system fell on leadership, not a lack of funding.
“I think it’s up to us and the school board to educate the public on what the bonds are about,” Meier said. “And I think the people will come through for the kids.”
The investment is much-needed, CMS Board Chair Elyse Dashew said, but she understands there’s a balance.
“Our job is to assess conditions of our buildings and the need for more buildings to relieve overcrowding,” Dashew said. “County commissioners work with their staff to figure out what is a responsible investment.”
Dashew said she thinks CMS found the right balance to get the school system’s money’s worth, considering construction and service costs skyrocketing over the past decade.
In 2010, it cost $52 million to build Rocky River High School. The Ardrey Kell and South Mecklenburg relief high school currently under construction is expected to cost $130 million. They’re “essentially the same facility,” CMS COO Brian Schultz said in December.
Lingering school-county tensions?
At-large Commissioner Pat Cotham said she’s excited to hear about the bond project, but she isn’t optimistic that relations between the CMS board and county will improve from last year when the two groups disagreed over the 2023 budget year allocation to the school system.
Cotham said her concerns for CMS include improving reading for students and teacher retention, but it all starts with a good intergovernmental relationship.
“We don’t meet with (CMS) and when we have it’s very stilted so you don’t really get to talk,” Cotham said.
County Commissioner Chair George Dunlap has an opposite line of thinking.
“We are meeting more frequently when compared to previous boards,” Dunlap said. “I think we’re working together more harmoniously.”
Both Cotham and Dunlap didn’t offer opinions on the bond proposal because they want to wait until it’s presented to them in early March.
Dashew said there’s been a spirit of collaboration between the boards while planning the bond and scheduling the meeting.
“I think there are also nine very independent people on the county commission who each have their own mind,” Dashew said. “I wouldn’t presume to predict how each commissioner is going to react.”
Next steps
The school board will vote on the bond package at its meeting Feb. 28. Then, school officials will present the plan to county commissioners as a bond request March 4 at a joint meeting.
If county commissioners approve the plan, it will go to the Local Government Commission, which State Treasurer Dale Folwell chairs.
The last CMS bond package voters approved in 2017 was just shy of $1 billion, which was CMS’ largest ever at the time.
From the 2017 bond package, $119.6 million remains to cover 15 projects. Of those, 12 are under construction and three are in the design phase. Voters in Mecklenburg County last rejected a school bond referendum in 2005, when 57% of voters said “no” to $427 million to build and renovate schools.
Reporter Anna Maria Della Costa contributed.
This story was originally published February 22, 2023 at 5:01 PM.
