The Charlotte City Council wraps up its annual planning retreat in Asheville on Wednesday. Tuesday, they discussed a proposed multi-billion dollar plan for trains, roads and buses. However, city leaders gave no indication of when they will ask Republican legislators in Raleigh for permission to raise the sales tax by one cent to pay for it.
The city invited former Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett to discuss the city’s sales tax increase and how it paid for a number of projects, including a streetcar and new sidewalks.
Charlotte officials then talked about how their own proposed plan calls for spending 40% of new sales tax money on things like roads and sidewalks. That part of the plan receives less attention than a proposal to spend billions on new rail transit.
The city has said it wants the General Assembly to consider this legislative session a bill that would allow Charlotte to place a sales tax increase on the ballot. The legislative session kicked off this month and runs at least through July, but Charlotte leaders have said they would like the sales tax passed sooner so they have time to line up support for a November referendum.
