{"id":99595,"date":"2025-10-02T09:58:26","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T09:58:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/actionnc.org\/?p=99595"},"modified":"2025-10-11T20:34:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T20:34:15","slug":"sales-tax-is-not-the-only-option","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/actionnc.org\/es\/sales-tax-is-not-the-only-option\/","title":{"rendered":"The False Choice: Why a Sales Tax Isn&#8217;t The Only Option"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>\n\t\t\tDon&#8217;t trust them when they say Sales Tax is the only option!\t<\/h2>\n\t<p>If you&#8217;ve been following the push for the new 1% sales tax, you&#8217;ve probably heard one line over and over again: <i>&#8220;This is the only way we can fund transit.&#8221;<\/i> That statement simply isn&#8217;t true. The truth is that the sales tax is just the most <i>convenient<\/i> option for those in power, not the only option available under the law.<\/p>\n\t<style>\n  .video-container {\n    position: relative;\n    width: 100%;\n    padding-bottom: 56.25%; \/* for a 16:9 aspect ratio; adjust if needed *\/\n    height: 0;\n    overflow: hidden;\n  }\n  .video-container iframe {\n    position: absolute;\n    top: 0;\n    left: 0;\n    width: 100%;\n    height: 100%;\n    border: 0;\n  }\n<\/style>\n  <iframe src=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1haPdTHmsxqDJb5BlhspmmbQjRLoZ-j4w\/preview\"\n          allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\"\n          allowfullscreen>\n  <\/iframe>\n<h2>\n\t\t\tThree Options They Floated (and Quickly Dismissed)\t<\/h2>\n\t<p>Even the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance&#8217;s representative, Attorney Larry Shaheeh, Jr., has admitted there are other ways. At least three alternatives were raised:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Raising individual income taxes<br \/>\n<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Raising corporate income taxes<br \/>\n<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Tax Increment Financing (TIF)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>But each was brushed aside with the excuse that &#8220;no one&#8221; will go for them. Why not? Because those options would place at least some of the responsibility on corporations and the wealthiest, rather than squeezing working families at the register.<\/p>\n<h2>\n\t\t\tThe Sales Tax: The Easiest Political Choice\t<\/h2>\n\t<p>Sales taxes are easy to push politically because the argument is that sales taxes are spread across everyone. But that&#8217;s exactly the problem. They hit hardest on those with the least flexibility in their budgets, families who are already stretching every dollar to cover rent, groceries, diapers, and school supplies. A sales tax is regressive by design.<\/p>\n<h2>\n\t\t\tOther Options Already on the Table\t<\/h2>\n\t<p>What officials aren&#8217;t telling you is that other funding mechanisms already exist under current law. These include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Corporate privilege license fees: Local governments can recapture revenue by reinstating business fees that were previously eliminated.<br \/>\n<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Using the current transit tax to fund incremental improvements.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Tourism and hospitality taxes: Hotel occupancy and prepared food taxes could be expanded or redirected to ensure visitors, not just residents, pay into the system they use.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Each of these options targets those who directly benefit from transit expansion, instead of balancing the bill on everyday shoppers.<\/p>\n<h2>\n\t\t\tOptions Raleigh Could Approve\t<\/h2>\n\t<p>If local leaders truly lobbied Raleigh with the same energy they&#8217;ve poured into this sales tax referendum, other options could be unlocked:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">A $1 fee on each airline passenger in and out of Charlotte Douglas International: With over 60-70 million passengers a year, that would raise at least $60-70 million annually, enough to pay for 2,000 bus shelters, with $50M left over, without touching the grocery budgets of local families.<br \/>\n<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Dedicated corporate transit tax: Even a small levy on the largest corporations in the region could generate steady revenue while ensuring those who benefit most from transit help pay for it.<br \/>\n<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Regional vehicle fees: Fees on ride-share companies, commercial fleets, or delivery services that use the roads intensively could help offset infrastructure costs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>\n\t\t\tThe Real Question: Whose Burden Should It Be?\t<\/h2>\n\t<p>The fact that multiple options exist shows this was never about &#8220;the only way.&#8221; It&#8217;s about <i>who pays<\/i>. Do we keep going back to working families like an ATM, or do we finally ask corporations, developers, and industries profiting from Charlotte&#8217;s growth to pay their fair share?<\/p>\n<p>Before you vote, remember: a sales tax isn&#8217;t the only option. It&#8217;s just the one they want you to believe is inevitable.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Don&#8217;t trust them when they say Sales Tax is the only option! If you&#8217;ve been following the push for the new 1% sales tax, you&#8217;ve probably heard one line over&#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],"tags":[],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/actionnc.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99595"}],"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=99595"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/actionnc.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99599,"href":"https:\/\/actionnc.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99595\/revisions\/99599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/actionnc.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actionnc.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actionnc.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}