Jennifer Roberts must’ve gotten word that local Tea Partiers were discussing the logistics of swamping the GovCenter with tax hike opponents. Check the wiggle room she constructed for Steve Harrison:

Commissioners may petition the N.C. General Assembly to allow Mecklenburg to levy an additional half-cent sales tax on top of the current 7.25 cents on every dollar. A bill approved by the House this week would allow several urban N.C. counties – but not Mecklenburg – to seek a transit tax.

“I may not vote to put it on the ballot (for voter approval), but why would we take away our option?” said commissioners Chairman Jennifer Roberts, a Democrat who placed the item on next week’s agenda.

Catch that? Roberts just wants the option to vote to put a tax hike on the ballot. Not that she would ever use it. This is brilliant. I am going to try that.

Honey, I want the option to date…yes, date…lingerie football players…yes, “those” women…not that I’d ever do SMACK!… OK, so that’s a no then? SMACK!

Local taxpayers should react the same way.

Bonus Observation: I think Harrison confused his Cookseys in this quote:

“I think the sales tax in Mecklenburg County is as high as it needs to be,” said Commissioner Warren Cooksey, a Republican. “If they need more money, they need to find it from a different source. It’s funny that when we were having this discussion (during the repeal debate), there was no indication there was a need for more money. It makes you wonder.”

Neil is the commissioner, Warren is the city councilman. And if I could slightly correct this observation, there were indications that CATS needed more money to build and operate trains, particularly the almost $100m. in tax-increment financing in the funding plan the MTC adopted for the North line.

Interestingly John Lassiter yesterday on BT declared that the plan all along had been to use TIF money exclusively to build the North. OK, would’ve been nice to tell voters that back in 2007, but in the here and now that means that two of the five trains in the 2030 plan — North line and streetcars — would be funded totally outside the existing half-cent.

In sum, then Roberts, Lassiter and company want a half-cent option to build a $1.12b. train to UNCC.

Update: Add City councilman Anthony Foxx to that list, per his comments a few minutes ago on WBT. Foxx too wants the “option” to levy the tax, not that we’d use it. To recap, that’s both candidates for mayor on the record supporting additional local taxes, er, options. Yay democracy in the QC.