Chloe Collins, Gaston Gazette
Thu, April 16, 2026 at 9:11 AM UTC
Gaston County voters could have a say in how well local teachers are paid.
At a county commissioner meeting on April 14, Bob Hovis, who represents the Crowder’s Mountain township, said the issue of teacher salary supplements weighs on him. In recent years, the county got the go-ahead from the state to levy another quarter of a cent sales tax to raise revenue for a project of its choosing, and according to Hovis, the commissioners put that ability in their back pockets.
Now, he wants to let voters decide whether the board should implement that increase in sales tax to provide additional funding for local teacher salary supplements.
In an interview on April 15, Hovis said county staff is currently reviewing the idea to find out how much they would need to raise through the initiative to make a meaningful increase to the supplements.
At their next regular meeting, the board will discuss the idea in greater detail and vote on whether or not to move forward with it. If it is approved, the county will send the measure over to the Gaston County Board of Elections office to have it added to the 2026 midterm elections ballot.
Hovis said the move would allow the county to raise teacher salary supplements without raising property taxes and hopefully reinforce that, “we value our teachers and always have.”
This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Gaston County wants to leave the decision on teacher pay up to voters