Cabarrus County commissioners want voters to endorse next week a quarter-cent increase in the local sales tax rate.

A new report from the John Locke Foundation research staff shows why the May 17 referendum is really a vote on whether to bail out county commissioners for taking on excessive debt. Much of that debt was assumed without voter approval.

As Michael Sanera says in discussing the report:

“Cabarrus County commissioners didn’t bother to ask voters for their opinions when the county borrowed $221 million in recent years, but now those commissioners want voters to approve a quarter-cent sales tax to help pay the bills caused by excessive debt.”