Editorial: Sales tax for Beaufort County schools a tone-deaf proposal

The Beaufort County school board and its superintendent have begun discussing a plan for a sales-tax increase for school construction.

The question of a 1 percent increase could be placed on the November 2016 ballot. It would raise an estimated $480 million over 15 years.

The board's discussions, however, come at a time of unprecedented community backlash following the hiring of superintendent Jeff Moss' wife for a job in the central office, after Moss changed the nepotism rule. Darlene Moss' subsequent resignation five days after her hiring for the $90,000-a-year job didn't settle the matter, and the majority of the board's response has only caused more public frustration.

So until the board takes stronger, open action to repair its credibility, its efforts to hold a referendum will rightly be met with suspicion, and the proposal risks rejection by voters, even if it were merited.

Since the public outcry in September over Moss, a majority of the board has adopted a defensive posture and disregarded public calls for change. It has curtailed legitimate comments and questions from the public and its own members, and it has refused to consider the hiring of Moss' wife in the superintendent's recent performance evaluation. Moss, for his part, has said he did nothing unethical or unprofessional. We disagree.

Meanwhile, the $480 million price tag for Moss' sales-tax is almost as much money as the county has approved in all school referendums since 1988 combined. Moss has also been accused of overbuilding schools in Beaufort, N.C., where he was superintendent from 2004 to 2009.

Under Moss' plan, about half of the money would go toward building two schools in Bluffton, expansion and upgrades at other buildings, and purchasing land possibly for a future school. There's still about $215 million from the proposed tax that is not yet earmarked. Moss has mentioned the possibility of reducing the property tax on school debt.

There's little doubt that the county's population will continue to grow and more schools will be needed in coming decades. But the timing for a referendum on a sales-tax proposal is not right for this board and this superintendent.

It's up to the school board to repair the damage first before taking its case for a tax increase to the voters.

This story was originally published November 28, 2015 at 9:22 PM with the headline "Editorial: Sales tax for Beaufort County schools a tone-deaf proposal."