'We kept our promises': Wake commissioners push back against PAC

Some Wake County commissioners are disputing charges made by Democratic donors behind a new political action committee that they failed to keep campaign promises to adequately fund local schools.

Women Awake PAC was formed in February and is backing challengers in three primaries for county Board of Commissioners seats. Lindy Brown is running against Commissioner Matt Calabria in District 2; Susan Evans is challenging Commissioner Erv Portman in District 4; and Vickie Adamson is opposing Commissioner John Burns in District 7.

Chairwoman Ann Campbell and other members of the PAC's board have previously supported the incumbent commissioners, but this election, they're throwing their financial support behind the opponents.

Although nominally they seek to support more women in local office, Campbell said in an email to WRAL News this week that funding for the Wake County Public School System is a key reason for the move.

"Multiple men on the Wake County Commissioners – men who ran for office on a progressive platform including a pledge to strongly support public education and undo years of inadequate funding – have failed to fully fund the well-documented needs of WCPSS," Campbell said. "We trusted their promises to step up and fix the inadequate funding of WCPSS. Like many people in the community, we have been disappointed in their failure to live up to their promises."

The school board last year requested $45 million in additional funding from the county for 2017-18 to keep up with enrollment growth, but the county budget included only $21 million of that. Then-County Manager Jim Hartmann recommended that the school district spend $21 million of its surplus funds to cover much of the rest.

Burns said the PAC's allegations are flat-out wrong.

"I believe we have kept our promises, absolutely," he said Friday. "Funding for education in this county had been held flat for a number of years despite the immense growth of the school system. Since our election, we've put over $100 million a year into the school system in just three budgets."

More than a third of the county's $1.26 billion annual budget goes to school operations, and when paying off the bonds used to finance school construction is factored in, that share rises to 52 percent.

The local supplement for teacher salaries has been increased enough in recent years that Wake County teachers now make as much as the national average, Burns said.

"I'm proud of the work that we've done. We have a lot more to do," he said.

The PAC pointed to lower per-student spending in Wake County than in Durham and Orange counties, but Burns noted that, because Wake County's district dwarfs others in size, its administrative costs are spread over a much larger enrollment, decreasing the amount spent per student.

He also criticized the PAC's insistence that Wake County could afford to pay more because its property tax rate was lower than other metro areas in North Carolina.

"I need to protect people from tax raises," he said, noting gentrification is pushing some people out of the homes where they've lived for years because they can no longer afford the tax bill on rapidly appreciating property.

The county's property tax rate has gone up by 10.1 cents per $100 valuation since 2014, adding $202 to the annual bill for a $200,000 home.

"Every time I’ve said that I’m not going to go higher than I did on the tax increase, I’ve been keeping those people in mind, and I’d like more people to think about them," Burns said.

Adamson, a longtime school volunteer and PTA official, said the county can and should raise taxes for education.

"I think our community is ready to support our school system, and if that means a tax increase, I think our community, I trust our community that they would be supportive of that," she said.

Adamson said she volunteered for Burns' campaign in 2014 but was unhappy that he didn't support extra funding for more school counselors in last year's budget. When the school shooting happened in Parkland, Fla., in February, she said she felt she had to take action.

"I couldn’t go to another march. I couldn’t light another candle. I couldn’t go to another prayer service. I thought, it is time to do something," she said.

Burns said commissioners are working on another school construction bond for the November ballot and will examine the district's recent request for a $58 million funding increase from the county in 2018-19.

"What’s important to note, I think, is that the county also has many other responsibilities," he said, citing transit, affordable housing and Medicaid, among others.