NC: Charlotte leader says there’s no backup plan for transit if NC skips over sales tax bill

Charlotte is working without a back-up plan as it waits for the General Assembly to take up its sales tax increase for transportation needs, a City Council member says.

And North Carolina legislators need to act quickly in the new year for local officials to have a chance at getting the referendum on 2025 ballots, according to Malcolm Graham.

Graham, who chairs the council’s economic development committee, told reporters Monday it was “disappointing” the General Assembly didn’t take up a bill in 2024 on the 1-cent tax increase.

Charlotte, Mecklenburg County and the majority of local towns signed off on draft legislation earlier this year laying out how the new revenue would be spent on rail, bus and road projects. But the legislation must pass in Raleigh before a referendum gets put on local ballots for voters to give the final OK.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t get the legislation that we thought we were going to get from the General Assembly this year,” Graham said.

Graham, who spent a decade in the N.C. Senate, attributed the delay to Helene, the tropical storm that devastated parts of North Carolina in September and left legislators scrambling to put together aid packages. Graham also pointed to the 2024 election and its aftermath.

“That really took their eye off the ball in terms of prioritizing things that they needed to do in a very short, compact period of time,” he said.

For the referendum to have a chance on the 2025 ballot, Graham predicted the legislature would need to give its approval in the first quarter of the new year.

“If not, it’ll be really difficult getting it on the ballot and selling it to the public,” he said.

Asked if the City Council has discussed a “plan B,” Graham said “not from my perspective.”

“I think all our eggs are in one basket,” he said.

Council member Ed Driggs, who chairs the council’s transportation committee, told The Charlotte Observer he’s “cautiously optimistic” about the bill’s chances but the legislature’s behavior can be hard to predict.

He “generally concurs” with Graham’s assessment that things would need to get through the General Assembly early in the year to have time to meet other procedural requirements and sell the idea to voters before they cast their ballots.

Though the council voted 10-1 in September to support the legislation and spend $91 million to purchase railroad tracks from Norfolk Southern for the Red Line commuter rail project, some officials questioned whether the deal could pass the GOP-controlled legislature.

“We are setting ourselves up for failure by not being precise,” Republican Council member Tariq Bokhari said at the time.

State Sen. Vickie Sawyer, one of three Senate transportation chairs and a supporter of the Red Line, told the Observer in early August she was doubtful the bill could gain traction in the Republican caucus.

Graham is hopeful local officials and the business community will present a united front as they continue to lobby state House and Senate leaders to prioritize the transit bill.

“I’m cautiously optimistic, but boy, there’s a lot of work that has to be done in a short period of time to accomplish it,” he said Monday.

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