Sales Tax for Transportation? Meck No!
Charlotte's East Side is Speaking Up and Saying NO
From small businesses to community leaders, East Charlotte has made its position clear on the proposed transit referendum: Not like this.
Plaza Midwood Merchants Association.
CharlotteEAST.
Councilman-Elect JD Mazuera Arias.
CharlotteEAST Executive Director Greg Asciutto.
These respected voices support public investment in transportation, but oppose a regressive tax with no accountability and no guarantees of delivery. The people deserve better than empty promises and inequitable burdens.
The “NO’alition” Gets Louder: Black Voices Rise Against Charlotte’s Transit Tax
In a city where generational wealth is already under siege and Black neighborhoods are vanishing beneath the boot of gentrification, a powerful group of community leaders and cultural icons are stepping forward with a unified message: Vote NO on the proposed transportation sales tax.
This week, a powerful signal was sent from some of the Queen City’s most recognizable voices. Community Advocate No Limit Larry, comedians and media personalities Tone X and BJ Murphy, and current community affairs host and former Charlotte mayor Patrick Cannon have all made their position crystal clear: they are standing with the people, not the political machine, in our NO’alition.
Friendship Baptist Church Community Meeting
Robert Dawkins, Action NC Political Director, explains the facts of Charlotte's checkered past with failed promises to the community members who attended the Friendship Baptist Church in West Charlotte.
The Fix Is Already In: Charlotte’s Transit Referendum Was Never Meant for the Voters
While Charlotte residents are being told to wait for their chance to weigh in on the $19.5 billion transit tax referendum, a shadow authority is already moving full steam ahead. A new article in The Charlotte Observer makes clear what opponents have long suspected: this whole process is a rigged production, and the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance is holding the reins.
Less Cash For You, Fewer Treats For Your Pets
When local leaders pitch a new 1% sales tax for transportation, they package it with glossy brochures, hopeful slogans, and promises of equity and infrastructure. But behind the sales pitch lies an uncomfortable truth: this tax isn’t just about trains and traffic. It’s about taxing the everyday lives of working families...even down to the food and treats we buy for our pets.
Yes, that’s right. If this transportation tax passes, you’ll be paying more to feed your dog.
They Admit To Their Broken Promises
As the years have gone by, we’re reminded of something much larger than a calendar: we’ve been watching the countdown on public trust.
Charlotte’s leaders want you to believe that a new 1% sales tax, a TRIPLING of the transit tax that was supposed to deliver the Red Line to North Meck these past 25 years, is the path to redemption for a transit system long mired in failure. But behind the polished talking points and campaign slogans is a deeper truth: one that even they openly admit.
In a recent meeting, At-Large County Commissioner Leigh Altman laid bare what many of us have known for decades:
After 25 years, “Charlotte couldn't deliver it.”
The False Choice: Why a Sales Tax Isn’t The Only Option
If you’ve been following the push for the new 1% sales tax, you’ve probably heard one line over and over again: “This is the only way we can fund transit.” That statement simply isn’t true. The truth is that the sales tax is just the most convenient option for those in power, not the only option available under the law.
The fact that multiple options exist shows this was never about “the only way.” It’s about who pays. Do we keep going back to working families like an ATM, or do we finally ask corporations, developers, and industries profiting from Charlotte’s growth to pay their fair share?
Broken Promises and a Board Without Riders: Why Trust the New Transit Authority?
When elected officials and corporate mouthpieces ask the public to approve a new 1% sales tax, they tell us it’s about progress. They promise that “this time” things will be different. But those of us who’ve lived through years of broken promises know better. The reality is that too many questions remain unanswered, and the biggest one is about trust.
Charlotte residents have heard these lines before. Each time new money is demanded, we’re told it will fix the system. Yet riders still wait at bus stops without shelters. Trains are delayed, buses are cut, and the neighborhoods that rely on transit the most are often the ones left behind. Instead of transparency and accountability, we get more slogans and more taxes piled onto working families.
If They Can'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, government officials would need to conduct multiple feasibility studies. The problem? They don’t even know where that money would come from. That’s right, there'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.
This glaring oversight begs a simple but serious question: If local leaders can’t handle the basics of planning, why should we trust them to deliver a multibillion-dollar project that spans decades?
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.
IT'S NOT JUST A PENNY
Even though the first year is $240 is what's being reported, and that might not feel like the full impact, this is a generational tax. Over time it averages out to $858 every single year, adding up to more than $25,000 over 30 years.
As families go through life, they make big purchases: cars, furniture, appliances, school supplies, holiday gifts, even the occasional home improvement. Each of those is subject to the higher tax. Over thirty years, with the compounding effect of inflation, it averages out to $858 every single year. By the time three decades have passed, the average family will have paid more than $25,000 in extra taxes.
The point is simple: while “just a penny” sounds small, the reality is a steady drain on working families that adds up to tens of thousands of dollars. That is the true cost of this referendum.
HIDING FACTS
The ballot question as it’s written does not fully inform voters about what the tax will really cost them over the long haul. Is it 1 penny? Is it only 1%? That's what the ballot measure will lead you to believe. The real facts are that this referendum will increase your sales tax rate by 14% and will TRIPLE the already existing transportation tax.
The attorney for the Board of County Commissioners doesn't believe it is "appropriate" to place these facts on the ballot. The text of the ballot will show an increase in sales tax but hides or misleads just how much extra each household will pay year after year, especially for those with lower incomes.
Before you vote, understand that key details such as which neighborhoods will actually see transportation expansions or which planned rail lines might be delayed or never built are glossed over. Without transparent projections and accountability for how every dollar will be used, citizens cannot make a fully informed decision.
WHO BENEFITS?
The truth is that this tax increase is not designed with working families in mind. The biggest winners are the banks that will finance billions in borrowing, the corporations that profit from public contracts, and the large developers whose projects rise in value when taxpayers foot the bill for new infrastructure. Everyday citizens will pay more at the register while these powerful interests collect the rewards. When the system is structured this way, the public carries the cost and the private elite capture the benefit.
PROMISES BROKEN
We’ve all heard the line: this time things will change. But every time leaders promise “inclusive growth,” uplifted transit, and mobility for all, working families end up holding the bill for benefits that flow most to those who already have power. The supposed 1 cent transit tax isn’t what it seems: it represents a 14% hike in overall sales tax, a burden that falls hardest on those already stretching every dollar. If we vote “no,” we reject repeating promises broken and demand real solutions that lift everyone, not just those at the top.