The Charlotte City Council on Monday unanimously voted to spend $4.3 million to help the Metropolitan Public Transportation Authority up and running.
The authority was created after Mecklenburg County voters in November approved a one-percentage point increase in the sales tax to fund a multi-billion dollar transportation plan.
The employees, buses and trains of the Charlotte Area Transit System, which is a city department, will be transferred to the authority later this year. The money will pay for consultants, attorneys and basic administrative expenses through the summer.
City Council member Ed Driggs said the MPTA needs an influx of money.
“And I think it’s pretty clear we’ve got to get some money into this organization,” he said. “At their first meeting (the authority) just sat there and didn’t have a dime. They didn’t have a bank account. And they need our help to transact and gradually inflate this thing and build it up.”
The tax increase goes into effect in July. Sixty percent of tax revenue will go to the authority, which will spend the money on new rail transit and to expand the bus system.
