Voters in several jurisdictions across Virginia will soon be considering a one-percent sales tax to finance school construction.
State leaders are passing the buck to voters, asking them to approve money for school construction that they could have included in the state budget. Instead, voters will be considering a one-percent local sales tax in a handful of jurisdictions, including Richmond, Martinsville, York County and Fairfax City.
Pulaski County administrator Jonathan Sweet says it’s a new tool in the toolbox.
"Post-pandemic, it's even more important because of commercial construction escalations that this is really going to allow some communities to do what needed to be done for a long time and to do it responsibly," Sweet says.
Bill Leighty is a former chief of staff for Governors Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. He says voters who will be considering this need to ask themselves if the local government has a plan for what they want to do with the money, and if they have a track record of following the plan, and he suggests Richmond’s two-page Capital Improvement Program isn’t really much of a plan.
"The proof in whether or not you should trust your government/school board with a big wad of money by levying a local sales tax – the proof of whether that's a reasonable question or not is how they've been spending the money in the past," says Leighty.
Money from the referendum must be used for new construction rather than retiring old debt, and the sales tax has exemptions for groceries, prescription drugs and personal hygiene products.
The referendum will be on the ballot in some locations in November.
