Four North Carolina counties will be subject to higher local sales-tax rates after voters approved increases.
Voters in Bertie, Chatham, Forsyth and Madison counties approved referendums that will increase taxes to cover expenses for teacher recruitment and construction projects.
North Carolina’s current sales-tax rate is 4.75 percent on all purchases except gas and groceries. Counties can enact additional sales taxes to generate additional revenue. Bertie, Chatham, Forsyth and Madison counties have a local sales-tax rate of 2 percent.
The four counties will join 39 other North Carolina counties that have implemented a quarter-cent sales tax increase over the past several years. In 2007, the North Carolina General Assembly gave counties the option to push for a quarter-cent sales tax increase with voter approval.
Forsyth County has the most to gain under the new tax rate. It will generate $14 million in revenue for construction projects. Sixty percent of voters who took to the polls voted in favor of the measure.
A little more than half of the Bertie and Chatham county voters supported the sales-tax increase.
Bertie County officials say the increase will generate $175,000 and be used to hire more teachers. The average teacher salary in North Carolina is $53,975, according to the Department of Public Instruction. That means the county could afford to hire about three teachers per year.
The sales-tax increase could generate about $1.6 million in Chatham County, according to county officials. The money is slated to build affordable housing, hire more teachers and complete park renovations.
Madison County voters showed the most support of the tax increase, with 63 percent of voters selecting “yes” on the measure that will generate $290,000 in revenue, according to county officials. They plan to renovate a local stadium.
Residents in four other counties voted against a similar measure on Super Tuesday. More than half of voters in Alamance, Stokes, Wayne and Washington counties rejected the tax increase.
