RALEIGH — A $1.7 billion Guilford County schools bond previously tabled by the state’s Local Government Commission (LGC) was revisited and approved at an Oct. 4 meeting.
Guilford’s bond request was held up after LGC members had concerns about repayment of the debt and falling enrollment in the district. The LGC asked county officials to give them enrollment numbers within 10 days following the commission’s last meeting on Sept. 22.
State Treasurer Dale Folwell, who chairs the LGC, abstained from the vote over concerns about the timing of Guilford County’s application as well as the county’s delaying necessary capital improvement projects.
“We are now in a period in which interest rates are higher than they have been in decades, construction costs exceed anything we’ve seen for decades, and taxpayers are going to be hit with higher property taxes to pay for this massive bond,” Folwell said in a press release. “That disproportionately affects lower-income residents and people on fixed incomes.”
Guilford’s requested approval for a $1.7 billion school bond package was passed by voters during the May primary election. While voters passed the measure, they rejected a related referendum to raise sales taxes, resulting in property taxes being used to pay the bond back. Guilford County officials expect no tax increase to cover the financing.
School officials said schools in some areas are overcrowded and badly deteriorating, and the bond funds would be used for building three new schools while demolishing and rebuilding 19 others. Additionally, 12 schools need renovations and $363 million is earmarked for safety and technology upgrades.
At the Oct. 4 meeting, general obligation bonds for various counties were approved, including $520.2 million for Durham, $167.1 million for Union County, $32 million for Watauga County and $75 million for the city of Gastonia in Gaston County.
An $8.3 million special obligation bond was also approved for North Topsail Beach (Onslow County) for maintaining the town’s beachline, which was damaged by Hurricanes Florence (2018) and Dorian (2019). A special obligation bond is payable from a pledge of future revenues other than locally levied taxes — in this case, Federal Emergency Management Agency grants — according to the press release from the treasurer’s office.
Revenue bonds approved included three bonds totaling $76.6 million for the Gastonia Housing Authority for multifamily housing projects, $17 million to Charlotte’s Housing Authority Inlivian for affordable housing units, and $310,000 to Johnston County for water and sewer upgrades. The Johnston application will be paired with a related grant of $840,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Other approved items included:
• $26.5 million loan to Pittsboro (Chatham County) to build a new pump station and add other infrastructure to the Wastewater Treatment Plant.
• $18.7 million in financing to Laurinburg (Scotland County) for two sewer projects.
- $3.6 million for Dunn (Harnett County) for various infrastructure and equipment improvements at its Black River Wastewater Treatment Plant.• $1.2 million for Conover (Catawba County) will replace various components of its Northeast Wastewater Treatment Facility.
- $764,000 for Louisburg (Franklin County) to replace aging infrastructure with new water lines.• $6.9 million for Kings Mountain’s (Cleveland and Gaston counties) installment contract for a new electric substation and transmission lines, and natural gas infrastructure improvements.
- $6.6 million for Knightdale (Wake County) to build a new fire station to increase fire coverage and public safety.
- $1.5 million to the town of Woodfin (Buncombe County) to build parks, recreation facilities and greenways through a private rather than public sale.
