Lake Norman Publications

North Meck mayors not ready to support transit tax



Rarely used railroad tracks through the heart of north Mecklenburg towns are a reminder of what hasn’t occurred locally in the 22 years since a half-cent sales tax was implemented to finance countrywide light rail service.   Lee Sullivan

Significant hurdles loom concerning a Mecklenburg County task force recommendation that a one-cent sales tax to support future transportation system improvements be a referendum item on county-wide ballots in November, but mayors in north Mecklenburg are already making their views on the issue clear.

Asked what would have to happen for them to consider – not support, but officially and openly consider – the sales tax increase proposed by the Charlotte Moves task force to finance county transit system expansions and upgrades, mayors Rusty Knox of Davidson and Woody Washam of Cornelius said plans would need to include a clear, absolute and unwavering commitment for new services targeting north Mecklenburg residents.

Huntersville Mayor John Aneralla, citing more than two decades of frustration for north Mecklenburg residents while mass transit projects – funded in part through a countywide half-cent sales tax implemented in 1998 – evolved in other parts of the county, took an even harder line.

“Nothing. I don’t think there’s anything at this point that could make me consider it,” he said. “Because of the long history of sales tax issues, and the times being apportioned a share of the cost and seeing the money generated disproportionately distributed to the city of Charlotte – with the half-cent sales tax the most memorable – I’d say there’s really nothing that could convince me to support it. That’s the history, and I don’t believe that will change.”

Current discussion

The potential for another sales tax referendum has emerged as a topic of conversation at recent meetings of the Metropolitan Transit Commission – the policy board for the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) that reviews and recommends long-range public transportation projects – and Charlotte City Council sessions.

The 25-member Charlotte Moves task force, endorsed by Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles and chaired by former Charlotte mayor Harvey Gantt, held sessions from May through December to analyze and evaluate future transit system needs and options. Task force efforts ended with a recommendation for the “one cent for mobility” program and a countywide one-cent sales tax increase that would generate an estimated $6 billion over the next 30 years – about half of the estimated costs of long-range CATS plans for new rail and bus services, bicycle paths and greenways, with state and federal agencies targeted to provide additional funding.

The Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners would have to approve placing the issue on county ballots, and some members have already voiced hesitation about that step while questioning the timing of a significant tax increase amid the economic uncertainty of a lingering pandemic. And the county would also need authorization from the N.C. General Assembly to raise the sales tax, another far-from-certain piece of the preliminary process.

While prospects for a 2021 referendum hinge on those decisions, north Mecklenburg’s mayors are firm in their positions that any conversations about new money for transportation improvements should include an emphasis on serving the people in their communities.

‘Something set in stone’

Washam and Knox both expressed support for continuing efforts to pursue some type of rail service linking north Mecklenburg with Charlotte, but they emphasized other transit system upgrades could be made to improve options for area residents.

“For me to change my position against the sales tax, I would need to see a shovel-ready project serving the people of north Mecklenburg,” Knox said. “It doesn’t have to be a train, or necessarily something involving a future rail service corridor, but it would have to be a commitment to make transportation service improvements for the 120,000 to 150,000 folks in north Mecklenburg, who make up about 17 percent of the people in the county but who haven’t really seen much in terms of mass transit programs.”

“It could be a true bus rapid transit system,” Knox continued. “A system using the toll lanes with buses running on a regular schedule all day, not just the morning and afternoon commute times. There are options.

He added that he supports the efforts of Gantt and Lyles, and that he’s a “firm believer” in mass transit.

“But there has to be something promised, something targeted specifically to serve the people of north Mecklenburg,” Knox insisted. “Voters up here are tired of paying money for nothing.”

Washam stressed he believes light rail – “Not commuter rail, light rail, let me be clear on that,” he said – should still be the ultimate long-range goal for north Mecklenburg. But he agreed with Knox there are other short-term ways to upgrade services for north Mecklenburg residents, and said his stance against a sales tax increase would not change until north Mecklenburg was an identified priority.

“We’ve been paying into this for 23 years and really didn’t get anything from it until fairly recently with some park and ride lots and enhanced bus service,” he said. “We’ve seen what’s happened in the past, and I can tell you we’re not falling for that again. We’re really going to have to see something set in stone. Personally, I’d like to see some advancement for the case for light rail into north Meck, and on into Iredell County, and I haven’t seen that yet.

Washam added that he and the other north Mecklenburg mayors are “pretty much in the same boat” with their positions that they would have to see transit improvements planned for the area before supporting a sales tax increase.

Aneralla, the most fervent of the three mayors in opposing the sales tax, also said he’s not completely sure train service is the best option for north Mecklenburg’s future.

“Maybe the train is not the answer,” he said, “and maybe the type of service proposed and the development density it would generate, based on what’s happened around the light rail spurs that have been built, is not something the people of Huntersville or north Mecklenburg would want.”

But he’s firmly against the prospect of north Mecklenburg residents paying additional taxes for services they will not receive.

“I’ve said publicly, and I’ll say it again, if Charlotte wants to build the Silver Line (the western spur to the airport and beyond) let them pay for it. And if Gastonia and Belmont, which the last time I checked were not in Mecklenburg County, want to be served, let them pay for it.

“I don’t see how those communities, which have not been contributing to Mecklenburg County’s transportation programs, are in line for substantial transportation improvements and north Mecklenburg is not. How do you rectify that?”

He reiterated his point about the lack of transit system investments in north Mecklenburg, despite intentions spelled out in 1998.

“The initial county talk then about the transit tax was south first, then north,” he said, “but the north part never happened. We were told we were next, and we weren’t.”

And while he acknowledged, like Washam and Knox, that CATS has upgraded bus service, he reiterated his stance that north Mecklenburg deserves to be a higher transit network priority.

“CATS has made some efforts and provided excellent bus service to north Mecklenburg, and I think we have a good existing partnership there,” he said. “But something has to change.”

While light rail service has evolved in Charlotte – and current discussions are focused on a potential western link serving the airport and possibly Gaston County – CATS investments in north Mecklenburg have been for park and ride lots and shelters for bus service.   /Lee Sullivan

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *