{"id":99560,"date":"2025-09-25T11:03:33","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T11:03:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/actionnc.org\/?p=99560"},"modified":"2025-10-02T09:41:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T09:41:16","slug":"its-a-good-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/actionnc.org\/es\/its-a-good-question\/","title":{"rendered":"If They Can&#8217;t Even Fund the Study, How Can We Trust Them With $20 Billion?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>If They Can&#8217;t Even Fund the Study, How Can We Trust Them With $20 Billion?<\/h2>\r\n<p>Before a single dollar from the proposed Mecklenburg County sales tax increase could be spent, government officials would need to conduct multiple feasibility studies. The problem? They don&#8217;t even know where that money would come from. That&#8217;s right, there&#8217;s no clear plan for how to pay for the studies required to implement the tax, let alone manage a $20 billion transit project over the next 30 years.<\/p>\r\n<p>This glaring oversight begs a simple but serious question: If local leaders can&#8217;t handle the basics of planning, why should we trust them to deliver a multibillion-dollar project that spans decades?<\/p>\r\n<p><style>\r\n  .video-container {\r\n    position: relative;\r\n    width: 100%;\r\n    padding-bottom: 56.25%; \/* for a 16:9 aspect ratio; adjust if needed *\/\r\n    height: 0;\r\n    overflow: hidden;\r\n  }\r\n  .video-container iframe {\r\n    position: absolute;\r\n    top: 0;\r\n    left: 0;\r\n    width: 100%;\r\n    height: 100%;\r\n    border: 0;\r\n  }\r\n<\/style> <iframe src=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1HWQvpaZv4e_tsTHLAciVC3YfvaQD6L-f\/preview\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\">\r\n  <\/iframe><\/p>\r\n<h2>Mismanagement Starts at Step One<\/h2>\r\n<p>Voters are being asked to approve a tax increase with no transparency on how implementation will begin. The lack of upfront planning raises red flags for anyone who has ever had to balance a budget or manage a project. No blueprint, no timeline, no accountability, just vague promises and a plea for more money.<\/p>\r\n<p>We&#8217;re not talking about a neighborhood sidewalk or a park renovation. This is a 30-year, $20 billion transit overhaul. And the people pushing it can&#8217;t even outline how they&#8217;ll fund the initial studies required to launch it. That&#8217;s not bold leadership. That&#8217;s mismanagement hiding behind slogans.<\/p>\r\n<h2>Trust Is Earned, Not Assumed<\/h2>\r\n<p>When you ask families in Mecklenburg County to spend an extra $858 a year through a permanent tax hike, you need to offer more than vague ideas and political buzzwords. You need a clear plan. You need fiscal discipline. And above all, you need trust.<\/p>\r\n<p>But how can voters trust a project when even the first step, the funding for the required groundwork, is missing in action? The truth is, they can&#8217;t. And they shouldn&#8217;t be expected to.<\/p>\r\n<h2>The Wrong Plan at the Wrong Time<\/h2>\r\n<p>This isn&#8217;t the first time residents have seen big ideas come with bigger price tags and disappointing follow-through. Schools remain overcrowded, safety is a huge concern, and housing costs keep climbing. Yet we&#8217;re now being asked to fund a 30-year transit expansion that doesn&#8217;t even have its paperwork in order.<\/p>\r\n<p>It&#8217;s not about being against progress. It&#8217;s about demanding competence. Before launching a generational tax burden, local leaders should prove they can deliver on the small stuff first. Instead, they&#8217;re rushing voters into a high-stakes decision without showing any signs they can handle it.<\/p>\r\n<h2>What Voters Deserve<\/h2>\r\n<p>Mecklenburg County families deserve answers, not assumptions. They deserve leadership that respects their money and earns their trust through clear, transparent action. Until then, any talk of a $20 billion transit future is just that, talk.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If They Can&#8217;t Even Fund the Study, How Can We Trust Them With $20 Billion? Before a single dollar from the proposed Mecklenburg County sales tax increase could be spent,&#8230;<\/p>","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/actionnc.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99560"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/actionnc.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/actionnc.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actionnc.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actionnc.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99560"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/actionnc.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99565,"href":"https:\/\/actionnc.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99560\/revisions\/99565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/actionnc.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actionnc.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actionnc.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}