Some Charlotte-area elected officials say they’re frustrated about being left out of negotiations to overhaul the region’s public transit system, creating friction that could stall progress on long-awaited projects.
The Charlotte City Council is expected to vote in early September on the city’s purchase of railroad tracks for the Red Line commuter rail project and in support of a ballot referendum for a sales tax increase to pay for transportation needs, according to a July presentation to some city leaders. The presentation indicates the City Council will discuss transit in open and closed meetings in August.
But the presentation also included information on “draft legislation” creating a new transit authority for the Charlotte region, something that took City Council member Tariq Bokhari by surprise. Bokhari, one of only two council members in the meeting, spoke out on social media after seeing the presentation, claiming Charlotte City Manager Marcus Jones told him previously “governance would be figured out later.”
Bokhari told The Charlotte Observer elected officials are “generally frustrated” they’re not more involved in negotiations, too. Now, he’s willing to “make sure” the upcoming votes don’t go through without assurances elected officials will play a major role in crafting a new governance model for transit, he said.
Charlotte-area state Sen. Vickie Sawyer called elected officials being left out a “structural deficit” in the plan, one that could further jeopardize vital support from a Republican-led state legislature already reluctant to give Charlotte what it needs to get its transportation plan in motion.
Charlotte rail spending caps
Under the draft legislation presented at the July meeting attended by Bokhari and Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, spending on light rail, commuter rail and streetcar projects would be capped at 40% of the new revenue.
The presentation lists the Red Line and Silver Line, as well as expansions of the Gold Line and Blue Line, as rail projects. But, it notes “funding availability” will determine how those projects are prioritized and what the final mode of transport will be. A 40% cap could endanger the Silver Line to east Mecklenburg as currently planned, and some have floated bus rapid transit as an alternative, the Observer reported previously.
Spending on buses — including bus rapid transit, micro-transit and mobility hubs — would be capped at 20% of revenue, leaving 40% of the new money for roads. Money allocated for rail that goes unspent could be rolled into bus projects.
Road money would be distributed directly to the city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg’s towns, based on local road miles, population and “relative transit service,” according to the presentation.
Who will run Charlotte’s public transit?
The proposal presented to Charlotte City Council members also includes an overhaul of how the region’s transit system is managed.
The Charlotte Area Transit System is currently a city of Charlotte department and also governed by the Metropolitan Transit Commission. The voting members of the commission are the mayors of Charlotte, Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville, Matthews, Mint Hill and Pineville. Representatives from the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners and the North Carolina Board of Transportation also vote. It also includes five non-voting members representing local governments outside Mecklenburg and from the South Carolina Department of Transportation.
But the draft legislation would create a new transit authority with 27 members, according to the presentation. Charlotte would appoint 12 members, including three people “representing business interests.” Mecklenburg County would also get 12 appointments, including six representatives from the county’s towns.
There would also be three seats filled at the state level — one by the governor, one by the state House and one by the state Senate.
The new authority could expand to include more jurisdictions, according to the presentation.
‘It’s problematic’
Bokhari said he likes “almost everything” that was presented, “except the fact that a governance model has been put in.”
“Right now the governance model is not going to fly with a lot of different parties, because it’s clear that a couple of bureaucrats put it together,” he said.
Bokhari said his support also hinges on the purchase of “outer carrier” bulletproof vests for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police. He’s been advocating for the cause for months, citing support from rank-and-file officers despite pushback from CMPD leadership.
“For a guy like me in a super minority, I have to find opportunities for leverage. And they have played in enough bad faith with me through this process that I have no problem making this the ultimatum,” Bokhari, one of two Republicans on the City Council, said.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Fraternal Order of Police said Thursday afternoon on Facebook CMPD’s Human Resource Department notified officers they could now apply for outer carrier vests
Charlotte City Council member Malcolm Graham, a member of the council’s transportation committee, said Bokhari “speaks for himself.” But the District 2 Democrat also has concerns not everyone is on board with the plan presented — beyond approving the Red Line purchase and putting a sales tax referendum on the ballot.
“I think it’s problematic,” he said of elected officials not being more involved in governance negotiations. “And I dare not speak for the council, but I think we just need to have a lot more conversations with regional lawmakers, i.e. the city, the small towns. Elected officials now need to be involved and not just the managers.”
He’s supportive of the Red Line purchase and “a bill that talks specifically about the 1-cent sales tax.” But “any conversation that goes beyond that is conversations that have not included this council, and that’s a problem for me,” he said.
“It is the City Council that will decide the transit future for our city and the region, not managers of the small towns and even our city manager. The lawmakers would have to do that, and that’s why I’m saying that it’s important that we understand that we take this thing in stages and that we don’t overreach right from the very start,” he said.
In a statement, city of Charlotte spokesman Lawrence Corley said the managers of Mecklenburg County, Charlotte and the towns have been meeting along with outside counsel “to discuss and develop draft language for potential legislation” to get a sales tax referendum on the ballot.
Jones regularly briefs a working group of three council members — Ed Driggs, James “Smuggie” Mitchell and Dante Anderson — and “meets regularly with individual council members and discusses a number of items with them including mobility,” he added.
“The draft language has not yet been shared with legislators but reflects guidance based on their public comments. There is not currently consensus from all municipalities on draft language and the members of the General Assembly will ultimately determine legislation and if any legislation was passed,” Corley said.
Can transit plan get through the NC Legislature?
Sawyer, an Iredell County Republican, says she’s stayed out of transit negotiations and hasn’t looked at draft legislation reported on by news outlets because “it’s not a finished product.”
But she also believes local elected officials need to be involved directly in transit negotiations because they’re the ones who are “going to have to answer to the people.”
“It is a political process, and keeping electeds out of the room is really a structural deficit of the deal from the beginning,” she said.
Sawyer’s District 37 includes parts of southern Iredell and northern Mecklenburg counties. The Republican is also one of three Senate transportation chairs.
Earlier this summer, she worked with fellow Iredell Republican state Rep. Grey Mills to get legislation passed requiring Charlotte to get approval from affected counties, cities and towns if it acquires “any portion of an existing railway line” beyond Mecklenburg County. That was in response to concerns from Mooresville and Iredell County leaders about Charlotte getting tracks in their jurisdictions for the Red Line.
“The reason why I had to pass the legislation in the first place is that there are voices that are getting left out of the room,” she said.
Neither Saywer nor any other transportation chairs have received proposals for a sales tax increase, she said. The General Assembly must sign off on Charlotte’s referendum for a 1-cent sales tax increase before it can be voted on by the public.
She doesn’t think legislation on a sales tax increase “will move at all” this year. It could get a look in the 2025 legislative session, Sawyer said, but she’s doubtful it could gain traction in the Republican caucus.
“I’m just not hearing a lot of great things about it,” she said. “... It’s just very difficult to get our caucus behind a tax increase.”
Sawyer said that despite her questions she’s still generally supportive of the Red Line.
“My concern that I’m voicing is because I don’t want to see it fail,” she said.
Timeline for Red Line purchase, sales tax referendum
The Charlotte City Council’s transportation committee will hold a meeting on the transit deal Wednesday, according to the city’s presentation. Council members are also scheduled to get a closed session briefing on the plan Aug. 19 and discuss it at their Aug. 26 meeting.
The council is scheduled to vote to authorize the purchase of the Red Line and on a resolution in support of the sales tax increase Sept. 3, with Sept. 9 as a closing date for the Red Line purchase, the presentation says.
Graham said he’s “cautiously optimistic” things will move forward.
“I’m very excited about moving forward, but I am making sure that I’m dotting Is and crossing Ts along the way, and also, more importantly, reading the fine print of anything that we do. The city needs to be in the driver’s seat and not merely a passenger,” he said.
