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BillLon said he was in favor of the schools having taxing authority. Long encouraged the
board of commissioners to pursue a one cent sales tax for school needs. He said west Iredell would
need two additional schools in the next four years.
Commissioner Fortner said the board of commissioners had discussed the possibility of
seeking legislation to permit a referendum in the fall. She said the citizens should have the right
to vote on whether or not they wanted schools to be funded by a one cent sales tax. Mrs. Fortner
mentioned that she had discussed the idea with Senator Kerr and a meeting had been scheduled.
Representative Mitchell said that in the last legislative session several counties had tried
similar legislation and they failed. He said House Speaker Black was not in favor of counties having
local option taxes. Mitchell warned that if Iredell County attempted the legislation that several other
counties would attach to it; thereby, decreasing the likelihood of passage.
Former stressed that all she was seeking was a referendum. She said she was very committed
to funding the schools.
Senator Forrester said he would help in the matter, but he would let Representative Mitchell
take the lead since Iredell was his home county. Forrester, however, agreed with Mitchell that
passage ofthe legislation would not be easy. He said that locally, the board ofcommissioners would
need a unanimous vote in favor ofseeking the legislation. (It could not be controversial on the local
level.)
Senator Phillips said he, too, would help in anyway. He said he was encouraged by the fact
that Senator Kerr had agreed to meet with Mrs. Former. Phillips said the legislation would have a
better chance if it had a sunset clause. Since Phillips chose not to seek another tern of office, he
thanked everyone for allowing him to represent them and said it had been a pleasure.
Near the conclusion of the meeting, Commissioner Stewart said she would like to meet with
the municipalities on a quarterly basis.
Chairman Tice thanked everyone for attending the meeting and for sharing their concerns and
ideas for the county.
The meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m.
Approved: 1)
Clerk to the oard