No surprise, since the News & Observer has been pushing public transportation since, well, “the year the wheel was invented.”
But here’s an interesting passage:
Now, however, after years of back-and-forth, the people of this region and those in the Piedmont Triad might get a chance to vote on whether to allow a half-cent sales tax increase to pay for more buses and rail transit. County commissioners would have to go along, of course. That’s the essence of a bill now under consideration in the General Assembly.
I haven’t heard this, although it’s possible it’s been reported and I missed it. I know Rep. Pricey Harrison and Sen. Katie Doresett have filed bills to increase the City of Greensboro’s annual tax on automobiles to fund mass transit, with Harrison commenting that a car tax ” is a little bit more fair of a funding mechanism than raising a sales tax.”
But this is the first I’ve heard about possible legislation that would put a half-cent sales tax to a vote in the Triad. A little research reveals this N&O write-up, where it appears that Winston-Salem Rep. Bill McGee Jr. is a co-sponsor, along with —big surprise —-Charlotte Rep. Becky Carney.
The article doesn’t say which two Triad counties would vote on the sales tax, but you have to assume it’s Guilford and Forsyth. Like I said, this is the first I’ve heard of this — let me know if it’s old news and I’ve missed it.
