With more than 60 percent of the vote, Gloucester residents approved a local referendum that will allow the county to impose a 1 percent sales tax to pay for capital needs in the school division.

The vote will allow the county to increase its sales tax from 5.3 percent to no more than 6.3 percent. According to unofficial results on the Virginia Department of Elections website, 13,446 voters (or 61.96 percent) voted in favor of the proposal, with 8,248 voters (or 38.04 percent) voting no. The measure passed in each of Gloucester’s precincts.

Michelle Stone, chair for the bipartisan group Vote Yes For Gloucester, said she couldn’t sleep the night of the election because she was too excited when she saw the results. Stone said she was impressed by the Gloucester residents and the pride they have in supporting the schools.

Vote Yes For Gloucester had volunteers at several of the voting locations to inform voters of the referendum. Stone pointed out that she saw about a 10 percent bump in votes in favor of the sales tax increase from where the volunteers were versus where they were not.

Stone gave a lot of credit to the group as whole for the work that was done behind the scenes, which included raising funds for yard signs. The group effort paid off, despite the timing of the referendum. She said with this being a presidential election year and a year defined by the coronavirus, the referendum couldn’t have come at a worse time.

Stone said that her team did everything it could to educate people on the sales tax and the alternatives. She said that the group tried to not have people think they were backed into a corner between raising the real estate tax or sales tax. However, she said that the money has to come from somewhere. The sales tax gives the schools a direct source of revenue, without having to rely on the real estate tax.

Revenue gained from the 1 percent sales tax levy will go directly into construction and renovations projects for Gloucester schools. The projects include the renovation of the high school, construction of the Achilles bus loop, HVAC replacements for several schools, playground replacements, and paving and lighting projects at multiple locations.
Stone said that she had been asked why the projects weren’t added to the county budget. She explained that these are not $100,000 projects. The projects are large and so is the bill for them.

The levy is set to expire in 2040 but can disappear sooner if the amount set is reached before hand. The Gloucester Board of Supervisors would need to hold another referendum to extend or increase the tax for other projects.