July 22. Mecklenburg County has scheduled two community meetings beginning this week to educate voters about transportation issues and a potential sales tax increase to fund projects. Commissioner Vilma Leake will host sessions on tonight from 6:00-7:30pm at Steele Creek AME Zion Church and from 6:00-7:30pm July 31st at West Charlotte Recreation Center. The meetings will feature presentations from Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) and include information on services, expansion plans, and the proposed referendum.
The Mecklenburg County Board of County Commissioners recently began the process to allow Mecklenburg County voters to decide whether to raise the sales tax by one penny, to 8.25 percent, to fund transportation projects. A public hearing is scheduled for August 6 after which the board will vote on whether to add the referendum to the November ballot.
If approved, the tax revenue split would put 40 percent toward road projects for the individual towns in Mecklenburg County, and the other 60 percent would create an independent transit authority to oversee light rail and bus system expansions.
Is there an answer to “What happened to the last .5% sales tax raise?” that was supposed to fund the light rail many years ago?
Posted by James | July 22, 2025, 1:20 pmEducate, ha!! More like indoctrinate. You know what you won’t hear from CATS at these meetings? Any ridership or costs estimates. When are the proponents of this even higher tax going to come clean about the immediate need for bonds to be issued to pay for any of these projects? There is no federal funding coming.
Posted by Eric Rowell | July 22, 2025, 1:33 pm