Petition sends sales tax back to ballot
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CHARLOTTE -- Officials with the Mecklenburg County Elections Board say enough people have signed a petition to repeal the half cent sales tax which funds mass transit, and now, the issues heads to November’s ballot.
“They made history today,” said former Mecklenburg County Commissioner Jim Puckett. “First time in the history of North Carolina that people were able to have some sort of say so in the amount of taxation they have.”
The signatures of 48,000 eligible voters could re-shape Charlotte’s transportation system for decades. The sales tax they look to repeal was approved nine years ago to help fund mass transit.
“I’m proud of the people in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, they’re paying attention,” said Puckett. “They realized in 1998 they were mislead about the impacts of congestion and environment and the costs.”
City Councilman and Transportation Chair Pat Mumford argued that a sales tax repeal would be disastrous and could derail the south corridor light rail scheduled to hit the tracks this fall.
A repeal to the sales tax could affect light rail.
“We'll be left potentially with a 9.6 mile light rail corridor fully built out, about 16 trains purchased, and no money left to operate it,” said Mumford.
Charlotte Area Transit System officials declined to comment on the petition reaching the ballot. However, in March, CEO Ron Tober discussed scenarios that might happen were a repeal approved, such as cutting back bus services to raising city property taxes.
“It will be the burden of the city of Charlotte taxpayers if this repeal goes through,” said Mumford. “This is not a scare tactic, a threat; this is the reality of this.”
Puckett argued voters should have the choice to decide whether CATS is too big or too expensive.
“If you ride around Charlotte this summer, and you see buses that are full of people, than you should support this tax,” said Puckett. “If you see empty buses, than maybe you should say to yourself, maybe we should take some of that money back, re-prioritize, and cut it back some."
Organizers leading the sales tax petitions said they began the drive in early February. For more information on their group, click Sensible Charlotte Area Transportation.