Per the Uptown paper of record’s lead editorial today, the rest of the story:
Fact: CATS costs have increased 234 percent since the transit tax was imposed in 1998.
Fact: CATS costs are 25 percent higher than other bus systems in North Carolina.
Fact: Bringing CATS costs in line with its peers could save $20 million per year.
Fact: CATS could earn $3 to $4 million per year by selling ad space on the sides of buses.
Fact: CATS chooses to “brand” and “market” itself instead.
Fact: The half-cent transit sales tax costs each person in Mecklenburg County about $60 a year.
Fact: For a family of four, that is $240.
Fact: The city says a property tax hike of $200 on a median-value home will run the current bus system and the South Blvd. line.
Fact: $240 is more than $200.
Fact: Many Charlotte households would come out ahead even with the city’s property tax hike and an unreformed CATS cost structure.
Fact: Calling something a fact does not make it so.
Fact: The Observer is a glutton for punishment.
