NC: Mecklenburg reaches ‘inflection point’ as NC legislators file transportation tax bill

Charlotte’s plan to overhaul the region’s transportation system and sway a skeptical legislature officially began Monday when a trio of prominent Republican senators filed a long-awaited tax bill.

The bill filed Monday is Senate Bill 145. Its primary sponsors are Sens. Bill Rabon, David Craven and Vickie Sawyer, whose district covers part of northern Mecklenburg County. Rabon and Sawyer also are chairs of the Senate Transportation Committee. Craven is a chair of the Senate Finance Committee.

If passed, Mecklenburg County could ask voters as early as this year whether to add a 1-cent sales tax to pay for roads and public transportation. SB 145 requires 40% of proceeds to go to road projects and 60% to go to public transportation.

The measure already received support from all Mecklenburg cities and towns, except Matthews, which proposed a higher tax to ensure a light rail line extends there. The Charlotte Regional Business Alliance, the area’s most prominent business advocacy group, added its endorsement Monday by saying Mecklenburg County’s “outstanding quality of life is threatened by increasing congestion.”

“This region is at a remarkable inflection point,” CLT Alliance Chair David Longo said in a news release. “We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to invest in our future.”

The bill’s introduction came on the same day Republican General Assembly leaders visited the alliance to discuss the legislature’s 2025 session. Sawyer has cautioned the bill’s passage remains uncertain in the GOP-dominated chamber.

Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Destin Hall remained mum Monday on their opinions about the transportation tax effort. But Berger praised Charlotte-area leaders for collaborating on the tax referendum package, and Hall offered a dash of optimism about its chances.

“I cannot over emphasize how impressed I’ve been with the willingness of local governments and local officials to work together to come to this point,” Berger said.

What’s in Senate Bill 145?

Key parts of Senate Bill 145 include:

• Allowing the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners to direct election officials to put a sales tax referendum on the ballot that asks voters whether they are “for” or “against” a 1% sales and use tax in addition to other existing taxes.
• If voters approve the referendum, the tax can only start if the N.C. General Assembly creates a new public transportation authority for the county. A draft bill from local leaders last year called for an authority with 27 members appointed by Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, the county’s towns and state leaders to govern the Charlotte Area Transit System. Berger told reporters Monday the authority would be introduced as a separate bill for procedural reasons.
• Tax revenue for roads would be distributed to each city and town in the county using a formula outlined in the bill.
• The public transportation revenue could be used for buying, building or operating a public transportation system, but the bill says no more than 40% of the total tax revenue can go to rail projects over any 30-year period. And the new public transit authority must complete at least 50% of the Red Line from uptown to Lake Norman towns before completing any other rail project. There’s an exception for unexpected events such as natural disasters.
• CATS leadership in January presented four scenarios that are affordable with the 40% cap on rail. All four options fully fund the Red Line, an expansion of the Gold Line streetcar system and overhaul of CATS’ bus system. They also lay out options for completing all or some of the Silver Line light rail project to the airport and Blue Line expansion as light rail or bus rapid transit.
• The authority can use its money to reimburse the city of Charlotte for buying train tracks from Norfolk Southern for the Red Line. The Charlotte City Council voted last year to spend $74 million to purchase 22 miles of rail corridor from Norfolk Southern and an additional $17 million for 1.6 acres of land along Graham Street near the Gateway Station.

Local leaders, business community celebrate bill

The bill would provide for “unprecedented funding for roads, transit and bus systems that will have both immediate and long-term impacts for our commuters, residents, and visitors,” the managers of Mecklenburg County, Charlotte and every town in the county but Matthews said in a joint statement Monday.

In a separate statement Monday, Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles said the bill “will help secure a more prosperous and better future” for the region.

“We still have a lot of work to do, but having a bill filed is an important milestone — one that we have been working towards for years,” she said. “I look forward to the work in front of us, with our partners, to deliver on a future that will make a difference for all of us because it will make a difference in the quality of life for our region.”

Lyles added in her statement she wants the governance structure “that the city, county, and majority of towns agreed to remain intact.”

Berger, Hall speak

Berger and Hall spoke at the CLT Alliance’s uptown headquarters Monday, addressing a crowd that featured local elected officials, members of Mecklenburg County’s legislative delegation and business leaders. Neither took questions from the crowd, but they addressed the transportation bill in their remarks about the 2025 session.

Hall became House speaker this year after Tim Moore won a seat in Congress. He told Monday’s crowd the transportation tax bill is “heading in the right direction” because “both sides of the aisle” and the business community “explained the need for the investments and how you’re really spending money to save money and create growth in the area.”

“It doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy,” Hall said. “I imagine it’s going to be a bill that’s well litigated through the General Assembly among the various committees in the chambers, and maybe something that it takes most of the long session to get to a good place on but, but I know that there are a number of folks who are committed to doing something on it.”

Hall pledged to review data about the most efficient ways to move people and “grow responsibility.”

Berger lauded local leaders for reaching a compromise deal, but cautioned that changes could be made as the bill makes its way through the legislative process.

“The rest of the news is that we ain’t there yet, and so we will see how to get us and get you from where we are at this point to where you all want to go,” he said.

Speaking to reporters after the event, Berger said he’s encouraging members of the Republican caucus “to look at the proposal and understand the reasons for it.”

“They’ll have to make their individual decisions on what they’re going to do,” he said.

Sawyer has cautioned it won’t be easy to get through the General Assembly.

An advocacy group posted portions of email exchange with Sawyer earlier this month in which she said the bill was “a long way from being palatable to have enough votes to even get to the floor.” She told the Observer at the time “nothing really new has changed” but the bill remains “very difficult” to pass in a Republican-dominated legislature generally averse to tax increases.

Voters will decide

The CLT Alliance noted in its statement Mecklenburg voters will decide whether to increase taxes if the legislature allows it to be put to a vote.

“Investments in transportation infrastructure are critical for the region’s long-term competitiveness, success, and quality of life for all. The CLT Alliance will continue to deliver the business perspective on this critical topic and is committed to working with stakeholders across the region to make progress on transportation solutions,” interim President and CEO Andrea Smith said.

Alliance Chief Advocacy Officer Joe Bost said “it’s premature” to pick a cut-off date for the referendum to make the 2025 ballot.

Developer Ned Curran added the business community has already started working with other community groups and elected officials on efforts to educate both legislators and the public about the bill and the potential referendum.

“We’re shooting for it to be on the ballot in November 2025,” he said.

Lyles told WCNC that if the region fails to get a referendum on the 2025 ballot, the city would try again in 2026.

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