NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk, Newport News, Portsmouth, and York County are asking voters this November whether to raise the sales tax by 1% to fund school construction projects — a move driven by hundreds of millions of dollars in deferred maintenance across the region.
City leaders in all three cities have been vocal about the need.
Norfolk officials say the city faces more than $600 million in deferred maintenance. Newport News leaders cite a gap of roughly $233 million. Portsmouth's mayor says a number of schools in the city are in disrepair.
The city councils in all three cities have approved placing the question on the November ballot.
WATCH: Newport News, York County voters weigh sales tax hike for schools
Dr. James Graves, a Newport News teacher and president of the Newport News Education Association, said he has seen the conditions firsthand.
"I've seen schools that have broken pipes. I've seen schools that have the AC unit has gone down or the vents is not done right," Graves said.
Data posted on the Virginia Parent Teacher Association website offers broader context. According to information released in 2022 by the Virginia Department of Education, about 50% of schools in Virginia were at least 50 years old, and the cost of replacing those buildings would exceed $25 billion.
Graves said the age of the buildings is central to the problem.
"People have to remember some of these schools were built back in the 1950s and 60s and they were for like 700 children. Now we're in a situation and generation that these schools are doubling in the amount of kids in these buildings," Graves said.
WATCH: Norfolk City Council votes to put 1% sales tax increase for public schools on November ballot
Not everyone supports the tax increase. After an initial story about Newport News last month, a Newport News resident shared an email they sent to a city council member questioning the approach.
"Why are voters asked to endorse a (likely permanent) regressive sales tax to correct the city's inattention to proper annual maintenance and/or replacement activities?" the email read.
A similar sentiment was expressed last week at the Norfolk City Council meeting.
"But now they want to be rewarded for their ineffectiveness with more money, that's not the answer," one speaker said.
For now, the decision will be left to voters in those communities this November.
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