Charlotte, NC: There is a big stink going on right now in Mecklenburg County, where Charlotte is located, over finding money for teacher raises. Although Charlotte has one of the best urban school districts in the country, NC school teachers are not paid to reflect that. North Carolina ranked 46th when it comes to average teacher salaries, according to the National Education Association’s rankings from 2012-13. The U.S. average salary was around $55,400. The North Carolina average was around $46,000.
North Carolina lawmakers have been discussing a pay raise for teachers, but have not come to any kind of agreement. The senate proposed increase in teacher pay would also cut teacher assistants and require teachers to give up career tenure. The House proposal would provide a smaller raise, but would keep assistants.
So Mecklenburg County is proposing a 0.25% sales tax to boost teacher pay here in Charlotte and Mecklenburg. County. This will raise the sales tax in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County to 7.50%from the current 7.25%, and be one of the highest in the state. They are still arguing and it could go on for months, either way it will not kick in until July 2015 .
So if you have any big ticket items you are looking to buy do it before then...or better stil go to nearby Union County were the sales tax is already lower than Mecklenburg at 6.75%. Lower taxes and good schools have for years drawn people away from Charlotte to Weddington, Marvin and Waxhaw to buy homes, resulting in a whole slew of other probelms like over crowded schools and no money to buil more...without rising taxes
Comments(0)