The Charlotte City Council met with state lawmakers to discuss their legislative priorities, including the one-cent sales tax hike proposal.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. โ City leaders in Charlotte are setting their goals for the year ahead and seeking help from state lawmakers to achieve them.
On Monday, members of the Charlotte City Council met with state lawmakers representing Mecklenburg County to discuss their legislative priorities. The city is aiming for state support in two key areas: public safety and public transit.
For public safety, city leaders are pushing for stricter regulations on fish arcades. Police and community members have previously told WCNC Charlotte that these gaming parlors are hotbeds for criminal activity.ย
Several raids on arcades occurred in the Charlotte area last year, including a SWAT bust in west Charlotte in September. Police officers said they seized guns, large sums of money, and alleged illegal gambling equipment.
The intergovernmental relations manager for Charlotte, Dana Fenton, said a House Republican is working on legislation to address the arcade regulations.
City leaders are also asking for more state funding to help the Mecklenburg County court system hire more prosecutors.
On the public transit front, the city and county continue to push for the state legislatureโs approval of a proposed one-cent sales tax referendum.ย
If approved, the sales tax hike would generate revenue for transportation projects. The city hopes to get the tax hike on this year’s election ballot, so Mecklenburg County voters can decide on the measure in November.ย
If passed, the city says the tax increase could generate more than $19 billion for the county over the span of 30 years. The money would be divided among Charlotte and the towns of Mecklenburg County. For example, Charlotte would generate more than $100 million annually and Huntersville would get nearly $12.5 million a year.
The plan is to put 40% of the revenue into road projects, 40% into rail lines, and 20% into the bus system and micro-transit. ย
Ed McKinney, who leads strategic mobility for the city of Charlotte, said they are modeling their plan after other cities like Phoenix, Nashville, and Columbus. All three cities, “had successful sales tax referendums just this past fall,” McKinney said. “It gives us a path forward and some lessons to learn as we move forward with this effort.”
If the referendum passes, McKinney said the first priority would be implementing the Red Line passenger rail, which would run from Uptown, Charlotte to Mooresville.
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