According to the results of a phone poll conducted by the Charlotte Observer and WCNC News, nearly 55 percent of those surveyed in the Mecklenburg area think that growth is good.

However, “33 percent of respondents said the growth is harmful because it causes congestion, crime and sprawl.”

To help ease the troubles of that 33 percent, the Observer suggests that increasing taxes is the key. They immediately let slip the fact that residents will soon have the choice to implement a land-transfer tax to help make growth “pay for itself.”

Though raising taxes may help decrease congestion, crime, and sprawl, it’s also likely, especially in Charlotte, that growth would pay for itself if the concerns outlined by that 33 percent were a funding priority. But, these citizens will never know because of the spending mentality in the Queen City (and elsewhere).

If Charlotte leaders think light rail, arenas, NASCAR, whitewater, and arts complexes are funding priorities, then of course growth will never look like it can pay for itself. Because the minute someone moves in, their taxes aren’t going towards the basic city/county needs, they’re going to subsidize some new development plan that’s supposed to turn Charlotte into Disneyland.