City Budget

Manager Carlee To Present First City Budget

Julie Rose — Sun, 05 May 2013 22:02:00 +0000

New city manager Ron Carlee makes his first big mark on Charlotte Monday night when he presents his 2014 budget and capital investment plan – or CIP - to city council. But speaking at WFAE's recent public conversation, Carlee made clear this budget won't really be his own.

"I came in on the city council's last (bugdet) workshop, which meant that four days later the budget goes into production," explained Carlee. "So there's not going to be much of my stamp on this CIP – it will be very similar to what has been out there previously."

One Charlotte, Or Many? A WFAE Public Conversations Preview

Julie Rose — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:00:06 +0000

It's time again for the city of Charlotte to draw up its annual budget – including a renewed push to raise property taxes for capital projects. Last year's capital investment program proved so large – and divisive – that the council and mayor couldn't agree on any plan. They still can't. And in the interim, those divisions have proven to run deeper than city council politics. They've shown up across Charlotte and they're the topic of a special WFAE public forum Thursday at 7 p.m. at Spirit Square.

Streetcar Debate Sidelined As Council Focuses On Rest of City Budget

Julie Rose — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 13:31:47 +0000

The Charlotte City Council learned Wednesday the price of its inaction on a capital investment plan. What they could have done last year by increasing the property tax rate 3.6 cents will now require an increase of more than 4 cents – and that doesn't even include the controversial streetcar.

In State Of City Address, Foxx Pushes For Streetcar

Tasnim Shamma — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 21:12:55 +0000

Mayor Anthony Foxx says the city needs to focus on getting the streetcar and nearly $1 billion capital budget plan approved in order to create more economic opportunities and see Charlotte grow in the future. He spoke at the City Council chamber on Monday morning in an annual state of the city address.

Tough Choices Ahead As Charlotte Nears End Of Annexation Road

Julie Rose — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 22:08:32 +0000

Think about this for a moment - back in 1960, the entire city of Charlotte was just 35 square miles. Today it's more than 300 square miles. That's a 700 percent expansion as one neighborhood after another got swallowed up through annexation.

Charlotte Ranks Third In Nation For Funding Pensions

Tasnim Shamma — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 22:09:45 +0000

Charlotte is ranked third in the nation for paying its bills on time. Not just any bills – pension bills. That's according to a new report by The Pew Charitable Trusts. They found that the country's largest cities have an unpaid tab of more than $200 billion when it comes to retirement benefits promised to employees.

Council Seeks To Settle Streetcar Debate Monday

Julie Rose — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 16:12:08 +0000

Budget debates don't typically get underway for the city of Charlotte until May – but the council has spent the last several months getting a head-start on deliberations.

Monday will be the last of three special sessions organized by Mayor Anthony Foxx to find consensus on a pet project - streetcar through Uptown Charlotte.

Streetcar Still Stymies Charlotte City Council

Julie Rose — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 04:51:09 +0000

Charlotte City Council members Tuesday held the second of three special budget meetings scheduled before the end of the year, seeking a solution to their months-long impasse. Whether or not to include a streetcar line in the city’s near-term spending plan remains the sticking point.

The streetcar is only $119 million of a more than $900 million proposal to raise property taxes and spend the money on projects meant to spur development in struggling areas of Charlotte.