Gov. Josh Stein on Tuesday morning signed a bill into law that will let Mecklenburg County residents vote on raising the sales tax by one percentage point to pay for billions of dollars worth of transit and transportation improvements.
Flanked by Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, a Democrat, and state Rep. Tricia Cotham, a Republican, Stein smiled as he put his pen to paper.
Mecklenburg County commissioners now have the option to put the bill on the ballot for a referendum this November. The city has estimated the higher tax would cost the average household $240 a year.
It would fund the Red Line commuter rail to the north, the east-west Silver Line light rail, an extended Gold Line streetcar, more buses, and road widening and expansion in Charlotte and the surrounding towns.