The Reverend C.E. McCollum of the Roanoke Valley chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference reiterated his request for the board to pursue a local bill sharing a portion of the sales and use tax with the county school system.
“According to various comments that were made in response to this request, I may not have made myself clear as to what I requested of this board,” McCollum said. “I know what I'm asking for, so I don't have to be careful for what I ask. I am a voice for the underserved. I speak for the neglected and impoverished children enrolled in a failed and struggling school system who have been denied the constitutional and fundamental right to a quality education.”
McCollum appealed to the moral righteousness of the board, saying, “You have the power to make a difference in the academic success of all children, not just some, but all. So I ask you to exercise your authority to include the children of Halifax County Schools District by providing that they have a share in the Halifax County local sales tax proceeds.”
In a memo to the board, however, County Attorney Glynn Rollins explained the complex machinations required to make McCollum's request reality.
First, he wrote, general statutes give the board the authority to decide tax distribution through the ad valorem method or the per capita method.
“To my knowledge, Halifax County has always used the ad valorem method of sales tax distribution,” Rollins wrote.
The ad valorem method involves sales taxes being divided between the county and municipalities on a pro-rata basis based upon the the total property tax levy of each governmental unit. Because of special taxing districts, however, it must be further divided and distributed. “For Halifax County, this means that the county must give a portion of its local sales taxes to each of the fire districts, the Our Community Hospital District and the Weldon school district.”
Legislation in 1973 requires the city of Roanoke Rapids “to act as if it did and share sales taxes with RRGSD as if it did actually make the levy. Of course, we all know that the RRGSD is one of only two or three school districts in the state that have legal authority to levy their own ad valorem taxes.”
This means, Rollins wrote, the county school system does not share in any portion of the sales taxes coming into the county since the county does not levy property taxes for the school system.
Levying property taxes for the school system, Rollins explained, would mean the portion left over for Halifax County will be reduced by the amount the county would have to pay the school system. “In my opinion, the payment of this additional amount of money from Halifax County coffers would be in violation of (general statute) 115C-430, which requires that apportionment of county funds among multiple school districts in the county must be equal on an (average daily membership) basis.”
Rollins further explained proposed local legislation would be in direct conflict with a state Court of Appeals ruling in Buncombe County. “In any event, because the county cannot get a larger share of sales tax under the ad valorem method, it is the county that would bear a cut in net sales tax receipts in order to pay over a portion of sales taxes to HCPS.”
The only way to equalize the overall amount of revenue received by each of the three school systems, Rollins explained, would be for the board of commissioners to adopt the per capita method of distribution in April. “This means that current windfall recipients under the ad valorem method — the non-municipal tax districts — would no longer receive any sales tax revenues. The sales tax revenues would only go to the county and the municipalities.”
Wrote Rollins: “Of course, that change in the method of distribution would give rise to the questions of how or whether to make the loss of sales tax revenues to various entities supported by taxing districts during previous years.”
