There you have it, ladies and gents. CATS says it needs another quarter-cent in county-wide sales tax in order to build more trains. With that precisely everything we’ve said would happen with regard to Charlotte’s transit system since 2006 has come to pass.

CATS cannot build $2b. worth of new trains without reaching deeper into our wallets, it is as simple as that. The Northeast line has officially broken the $1b. barrier — another of our predictions — with a $1.12b. price-tag, up from $741m. waaayyyy back in 2006. The North line will cost $400m. — CATS now claims $375m. — but it does not matter, it’ll never get built because the line will never get federal transit funding, as opposed to one-time “stimulus” pork. And don’t forget the $400m. worth of streetcars which used to be in the 2030 plan, but now are to be built by the city and paid for with future property tax dollars.

If CATS is gonna go the quarter-cent route, the next stop is the Mecklenburg County commission, which will have to vote to approve to put a quarter-cent referendum on a local ballot.

The ball is in your court, Chairwoman Roberts.

Update: Quite unbelievably Charlotte city councilman John Lassiter this morning on WBT said that the city should pursue getting additional half-cent authority for transit, as the legislation state Rep. Becky Carney is flogging through the General Assembly would give the Triangle and the Triad. Recall that state Sen. Dan Clodfelter said no to including Mecklenburg in that, citing the uncertainty surrounding the MTC’s train-building plans. Lassiter no doubt figures that if you are going to ask voters for a tax hike for trains, might as well go for the big one.

In other words, a full cent for transit, just a Randal O’Toole said would happen when he came to Charlotte in advance of the 2007 transit tax repeal vote.

Oh, and Lassiter is 100% wrong when he asserts that “the economy threw us a curve ball” on transit plans. No, Lassiter and the status quo local leadership simply struck out swinging on the issue. The $9b. transit plan unveiled in 2006 was instantly and obviously unsustainable. Some of us said so.

Some of us — hint hint — did not.