The city of Charlotte’s lobbyist, Dana Fenton, told the City Council in unusually blunt terms Tuesday that its current transportation plan has no chance of succeeding in Raleigh.
“If we were to go out there to the General Assembly with the bill the City Council wanted, it wouldn’t be a regional plan,” Fenton told council members during a strategy retreat. “It would be seen as a city of Charlotte plan, and it would be dead on arrival. And it wouldn’t go anywhere. If we were to do that, it would really hurt this effort to get a new source of revenue.”
The city needs the Republican-controlled General Assembly to allow it to place a one-penny sales tax increase on the ballot. That would pay for the city's share of a $13.5 billion transportation plan, which would also need federal funds, with most of the money paying for the Silver Line light rail. The plan would also direct an estimated 20% of the total money to expand the bus system and build new greenways, sidewalks, bike lanes and roads.
Earlier this month, GOP House Speaker Rep. Tim Moore criticized the city’s plans after a forum at the Charlotte Business Alliance.
Moore said the city should spend more money on expanding and improving roads instead of transit. He said it’s unrealistic for Charlotte to try and change people’s behaviors to get them out of their cars, trucks and SUVs. The city has a goal that by 2040, half of all trips will be taken by something other than an automobile.
In response to Moore’s comments, City Manager Marcus Jones on Monday unveiled a slightly tweaked transit plan that would “frontload” spending on roads in the earlier years of the tax. The city would still plan to spend the same amount of money on transit, though those projects might be delayed.
The new plan received a mixed reception among council members.
Democrat Braxton Winston wants the city to ask Raleigh for permission to place the penny tax on the ballot.
But Republican Ed Driggs, who chairs the transportation committee, said the new plan and the city’s presentation were “bewildering.” Republican Tariq Bokhari said the General Assembly will “smell out a fast one this quick. And it will be the same conversation we’ve had.”
Until the council agrees on a path forward with the sales tax — and gets the legislature on board — Charlotte's long-discussed transit plan sits in limbo. Jones had hoped on Monday that council members would give him firm direction about moving forward with the tax, giving the OK to meet with Republican leaders. Council members did not take a vote on the issue.
Tuesday’s meeting was about the city’s official requests for the state and federal government.
When the discussion turned to transportation, Democrat Victoria Watlington asked whether the penny sales tax plan was dead.
Fenton said it was not. But he later added it needed to change to have any chance of succeeding.
Charlotte leaders have been floating the idea of a regional transportation plan to garner more support from Republican-controlled neighboring counties. Preliminary proposals and planning efforts like the "Connect Beyond" regional plan — which would focus on a regional bus network and perhaps spur a regional transit authority to administer the system — have been floated.
But one problem is that almost all of the money in Charlotte's current $13.5 billion plan would be spent inside Mecklenburg County. It’s unclear whether nearby counties like Union and Cabarrus would tax themselves for a Charlotte-specific plan.
