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Poll: Wake Taxpayers Don't Support Bond Proposals

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RALEIGH, N.C. — Wake County is feeling the pinch of record growth, in neighborhoods and schools. Dealing with it is a multibillion-dollar proposition. It's one the public doesn't yet have the stomach for, according to a new poll.

When asked about three school construction bonds ranging from $1.4 billion to nearly $2 billion, only 40 percent supported the bonds.

"If we compare this with our bond three years ago, we were at 61 percent at this time," said Wake County Commissioner Joe Bryan. "And now, we're only at 44 percent. So, we've got quite a challenge."

In some ways, it's back to the drawing board for commissioners and the school board. They have to come up with a bond amount that will fly come November. This latest poll gives them a place to start.

"We've got to take this input that we've received from the public, and come back with a smaller bond issue that has more year-round to it," said Bryan.

Converting to year round schools may be the only way this major building package gets through. Of those polled, 66 percent favor year-round schools, while 23 percent do not. That's the funding option that would mean the fewest new schools, and the lowest cost to taxpayers, something the numbers do support.

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