That was quick.
Mecklenburg County commissioner Bill James emails to say that Commission chair Jennifer Roberts has already has already put it on the commission agenda for the next meeting “an item to endorse raising a new ½ cent (one half cent) tax for transit only (not for ‘transportation’ or ‘roads’).”
James adds that, “Harold Cogdell (Vice Chair) is calling and telling the Commissioners that it will be on next Tuesday’s public policy meeting for a discussion. We don’t vote at those meetings but supposedly they are going to present the reasons for endorsing the tax and asking the legislature to give it to us.”
Note by “legislature” Cogdell, Roberts and gang basically mean Dan Clodfelter, who is busy re-writing the state tax code on the fly. The Mecklenburg-less new half-cent for transit legislation just passed the state House. In theory lawmakers could double-back and add Mecklenburg to the bill, but doing so would seriously wound chances for the Triad and the Triangle to convince their voters to approve a half-cent for transit as the bill authorizes.
Right now, the other jurisdictions can — inaccurately, but plausibly — claim that the same wonderful choo-choo benefits of Meck’s half-cent await the Triad and Triangle. But if Meck crashes in to say, “Excuse me, but the half-cent ain’t cutting it, we need a whole penny (belch)” that argument evaporates. For that reason — along with the general reluctance of lawmakers to “give” anything to Charlotte — I think it a long-shot, but one the status quo must take.
The other element of this is, of course, Clodfelter. A we’ve noted he has got to wonder why his East Charlotte district is at the bottom of the heap for CATS choo-choos when all the funding and cost rules have flown out the window.
Still, first step — the county commission in broad daylight must beg for more authority to tax the county $70m. a year more in order to build trains.
