I say no, and every objective measure says no as well. Revenue has been growing by leaps and bounds — as has spending. But facts won’t matter in this debate. Guts will.
Frankly there exists no organized advocate for fiscal discipline in Char-Meck, so when Dumont Clarke pops up to say that the county needs another quarter-cent in sales tax revenue in order to paper-over the state’s failure to supply a criminal justice system all you basically hear is crickets.
Either someone stands up and says no — or Detroit-on-the-Catawba here we come.
Bonus Observation: How does the county expect to get $45m. a year from a quarter-cent sales tax when the half-cent for transit has never thrown off as much as $90m. and right now is struggling to hit $80m.?
