Well, well, well, it looks like Columbus County has managed to put something on the Nov. 3 ballot that was just begging to be a My Quarter’s Worth column: a quarter. More precisely, a ¼ of a penny local sales tax increase. That’s just 25 cents per $100 of taxable purchases. Current North Carolina base sales tax is 4.75 percent, plus 2 percent for Columbus County, which has remained unchanged since 2009. Seventeen years, long enough to get a driver’s license and develop opinions about curfews. This will not affect the 2 percent food tax, and that, my friends, is a separate beast and a gripe for another column.
There is a solid argument in favor of it. The need is real and using a sales tax spreads the burden more broadly than raising property taxes. Property owners already carry a large share of county funding. A sales tax also captures spending from visitors, tourists, travelers and people from surrounding counties who shop, eat and do business here.
We also know these capital needs are not new. The county asked for this same quarter in 2018. Eight years later, the same quarter has come back around. At this point, that quarter is old enough for third grade. Southeastern Community College is a good example of why the conversation is still here. It has a new Transportation Technology center that expands skilled-trades training in automotive and transportation fields, while the college is also dealing with aging facilities, deferred maintenance and growing operating costs.
As a business owner, economic growth and a skilled workforce are high on my list. I am also rather fond of working HVAC systems, safe school and recreational facilities, and having an ambulance show up when I need one. Supporting those basics matters just as much as attracting new businesses, because a community that wants to grow its tax base also must invest in the people and infrastructure that make growth possible.
There is also a fair argument against it. A tax increase is still a tax increase, and the public deserves to know exactly where the money is going. If the county is asking for another revenue stream, voters should not have to hunt for the details. Businesses will also be affected, if approved, must update point-of- sales and correctly report the new rate on the E-500 Sales and Use Tax Return, which is already a pesky little process. Bottom line, if taxpayers are being asked for more, the county needs to be equally clear about how that money will be spent and tracked.
My own perspective comes from owning a small business, spending a year in the Leadership Columbus Program, and talking with local mayors, town managers, business leaders and others working across the county. I have seen enough to know the needs are not imagined. We need stronger infrastructure, better support for education and skilled trades and a more coordinated approach to economic development. We also need to start changing the public perception that the county and city governments are secretive, disconnected, or not always forthcoming. That doesn’t happen with slogans. It happens when leaders show their work, communicate clearly and follow through.
So, my call to action is to our new County Manager, Jason Robinson. And before anyone thinks I am ambushing the man, I already warned him I was putting him on the spot. Now get out in front of this. Do some digging. Put together a simple breakdown of who gets what, what projects are waiting, how the money would be used and how it would be tracked. Hold a press conference, invite the subject matter experts, invite the local reporters. Let the reporters ask questions. Give the public enough information to understand the need, the plan and the accountability before Election Day. If we are serious about changing the narrative around Columbus County, this is a pretty good place to start.
If the voters say no, don’t be surprised if we are having this same conversation again next election cycle, or a much less pleasant one about property taxes. The needs will not disappear because the referendum does. Roofs still leak, HVACs systems still need replacing, and ambulances still wear out, and repairs do not get cheaper just because we put them off.
I don’t mind coughing up another quarter, I just want to know where it’s going, what it is buying, and that it doesn’t get lost in the government’s couch cushions.
That’s my quarter’s worth. See you on the flip side.
–Patty Nieman is a business and property owner in Columbus County
