The emerging and endless qualms with Charlotte's big transit plans

Finally, Charlotte has a path forward to achieve a transit sales tax to build long envisioned rail lines and improve roads. But many hurdles could doom it to failure.

Why it matters: Voters have the final say on a sales tax increase for transit — and even the staunchest transportation supporters have gripes about the plan.

Catch up quick: The managers of Mecklenburg County, the City of Charlotte and all surrounding towns — except Matthews — have put together a draft bill that, if passed by the state legislature, would put a question on an upcoming election ballot:

• Essentially: Do you want to raise the sales tax by a penny to fund transportation and road projects?

Flashback: Bond referendums for affordable housing and schools have easily passed in Mecklenburg County, but a tax referendum will be more scrutinized.

• The quarter-cent arts sales tax referendum, for example, failed in 2019 when priorities did not resonate with voters.

Driving the news: Matthews opposes the legislation because the spending plan likely wouldn't afford the Silver Line light rail to connect Matthews with Uptown. Local leaders question whether this plan creates "winners" (north Mecklenburg) and "losers" (south).

• "I don't know that Matthews will tank it. I don't know that it won't," says Sen. Vickie Sawyer, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee. "Though, to be honest with you ... there's 100 other reasons why this thing may not get off the ground."

Here are just some of the other questions the bill will face.

An entire quadrant of Mecklenburg County may oppose the referendum.

• With only about 30,000 people, Matthews wouldn't have the numbers alone to vote down the transit tax.
• But without the Silver Line segment to Matthews, the plan doesn't offer much to the east side of Charlotte, either, as far as rail.
• "95% of the individuals that I've spoken to are a no-go on the transit plan without the Silver Line," says Greg Asciutto, CharlotteEAST's executive director.
• East Charlotte residents rely more on transit than other areas do, Asciutto says.

Iredell County may get a "free" station.

• The Red Line , a commuter rail between Uptown and Lake Norman, ends with a Mount Mourne station in Mooresville.
• Matthews Mayor John Higdon calls it "the ultimate insult" to ask his residents to pay a sales tax that funds a station in another county.
• "I can barely believe that's even legal," he adds.

The plan still isn't truly regional.

• People are moving to the outskirts of Mecklenburg and commuting to Uptown and other office areas as housing prices skyrocket in Charlotte.
• Rep. Laura Budd, who lives in Matthews, says she's hearing negative reactions to the plan from state representatives outside Mecklenburg — which could impact the bill's success.
• "It's extraordinarily short-sighted in terms of what we need as a growing Charlotte metropolitan area," Budd says of the draft bill.
• The legislation would set up a regional transit authority with room for expansion. Other regions could join, contingent upon board approval and contributing funds, according to a city presentation.

The Silver Line isn't stopping directly at the airport.

• One person commented on Axios Charlotte's Instagram: "ALSO remember that this means no train to the airport in our lifetime (no that's not an exaggeration)."
• The portion of the Silver Line, from Uptown toward Gaston County, would drop passengers off on Wilkinson Boulevard. Several other big-city airports have trains directly at terminals.
• Charlotte Douglas International Airport supports the current alignment, it states, "as our Master Plan calls for our front door to expand."
• The airport refers to the area off Wilkinson Boulevard as its "front door." It plans to develop the land with potential hotels, offices and restaurants.

Who's in charge here?

• House Speaker Tim Moore, who lives in Kings Mountain, told reporters in 2023 that Charlotte's plan was too rail-focused and they needed more for roads. Thus, to appease state lawmakers the drafted legislation puts a 40% cap on spending for rail projects.
• Some question why Charlotte would cut the Silver Line out of its plans rather than push back on the legislature.
• When Cornelius passed its resolution endorsing the bill, its leaders praised that it required 40% of revenue to support roads.

Not the first, not the second, but the third tax hike.

• Mecklenburg County residents are already paying more in property taxes than just a few years ago. On top of a countywide revaluation, the county, city of Charlotte and town of Huntersville all raised taxes this year.
• But is 1 cent even the right price? The cost of building infrastructure has risen since the $13.5 billion transit plan was introduced in 2020.
• Matthews has suggested a 1.4-cent tax increase to encompass all the desired projects.
• It's unlikely the Republican-controlled General Assembly would support an even higher sales tax.

The bottom line: It's taken so long to get to this point, many people will still support a transit sales tax despite their criticisms.

• Sustain Charlotte, for example, says the proposed legislation is "imperfect" but doesn't want to fall further behind on transportation goals because of "our inability to coalesce."

What's next: Mayor Higdon does not expect the General Assembly to take up the bill until the long session. He says there should still be months to craft an alternative plan, and he will ask for the Metropolitan Transit Commission's support next week.

• "I was a very big proponent for the Red Line to be built," he says. "I'm a little dismayed that when the shoe was on the other foot, and I need some colleagues to stand up for Matthews, they've kind of left me in the dark here. But still hopeful we can work out something."