The Whole Story

 The Whole Story

The Mecklenburg County Proposed Transit 1% Sales Tax Increase

Goal 

• To reduce traffic congestion 

The North Carolina State Legislature 

• The only reason the PAVE act became law is because the NC legislature thought it was a         great idea to pass the cost of transportation needs from the state to local municipalities 

Zoning 

• Biggest drive to congestion is re-zoning 

• Charlotte is 2nd in the nations in building apartments 

• These are being built in over crowned areas

• Need to better control/target re-zoning

o Focus on zoning approvals for low-income housing

o Focus on zoning approvals for less populated areas 

o Cut back re-zoning approvals for over populated areas

CATS Proposal 

• Solving Traffic Congestions – THE BIG QUESTION 

o Is the CATS proposal going to reduce significantly traffic congestion???

• Roads 

        o NC Department of Transportation (NCDOT) does most of the major road projects in                  the state 

        o Not enough money via the proposed 1% sales tax increase to open up roads

        o Very few major road projects proposed by city planners/CATS

        o Touting bike lanes, sidewalks, more stop light – none of which will reduce traffic                        congestion 

        o Opening up roads is critical to reducing traffic congestion 

• Rail

        o Only one project committed to – Red line 

        o Will take many years to complete 

        o Significant risk of cost escalation and over run

        o No light rail to Matthews although this was the number two (2) desire on a consumer               survey conducted by CATS

        o Silver line West CATS light rail station will be located one (1) mile from the airport.                   Totally unclear how people are going to get from the light rail terminal into the airport                terminal. A logistic night mare 

        o Cost overruns on the Red Line will kill expansion on other rail projects. Many cities                   with similar ambitions have run short of money and had to cut back &/or stop work

• Busing

        o Running half empty. Declining ridership

        o No data supporting that increasing route frequency will lead to increase ridership.

        o Increasing route frequency will add significant cost 

        o Microtransit will put more vehicles on the road. If expanded CATS will have to add                   additional vehicles, escalating costs resulting in fare increases 

    • Guard Rails On Spending 

        o No project vetting or approvals required

        o Money can be spent any way the municipalities see fit

• Displacement 

        o No clear safeguard in place for residential displacement

        o Low-income people are the ones most impacted by transportation build out

• Safety 

        o Four (4) CATS transportation related homicides in the past three (3) years. 

        o Should we be thinking about expansion when there are legitimate concerns about                  safety on the existing system

Taking Money Out Of the Economy 

• Proposed additional tax money will take money out of consumers pocket and not be spent        on other things. 

• Negative effect on local economy

The Financial Pinch

• Middle class and low-income families are being killed by increase in everyday living cost. 

• Do they want to pay more taxes???

Bottom Line 

• Is a proposed 1% transit tax increase going to solve traffic congestion?

        o Probably Not

        o As Pat McCrory, former major and father of Charlotte light rail, said – “we built a light               rail line and still have traffic congestion”

A Better Plan 

• A smaller tax increase 

• A more limited and focused project approach

• See what can be accomplished and build on it 

Garland Green - garlandg2003@outlook.com