It happened in Baltimore where disgraced Mayor Shelia Dixon hiked taxes on city parking lots by 18 percent in order to provide "Free" bus service via buses from Mayor Anthony Foxx’s DesignLine International bus-builder. This is what Charlotte has to look forward to — tax hikes, waste, and corruption.
Vote For Charlotte Streetcar, Vote For a Tax Hike
Meck Deck Blog
Last year I warned all of you gullible, straight ticket voting, Charlotte Observer fooled, blind citizens that (new) Mayor Anthony Foxx and the Charlotte City Council were going to sneak another Property Tax Hike on us in the name of "Modern Transportation".
How else do you think the City is going to pay for this wasteful, East/West Charlotte, Democrat voting buying "Streetcar Named Desire" scam in a looming Recession?
If this project cost almost $500M and the Feds will only give Charlotte about $25M, where did you dummies think that other $475M was going to come from?
That's right another Property Tax Hike!
Like I said before don't listen to Foxx's words, watch his actions.
Foxes are extremely sly, cunning animals.
Charlotte City Smart Growth, Economic Development Funds May Be Tapped For Streetcar
The city has the money to take a first step in building its proposed streetcar project. It should use it.
Tonight the Charlotte City Council is to decide whether to apply for a $25 million federal grant for a $37 million project that would build 1.5 miles of its proposed 10-mile streetcar line. The city would have to find $12 million for its share.
City staff suggested pulling the $12 million from among four different pools of city money. The council's Transportation Committee recommends using three of those pools: $2.5 million in unspent streetcar planning money, a $4 million "Smart Growth" revolving fund and $5.5 million from $10.5 million set aside in debt capacity for economic development projects. Because the streetcar is a council priority, and because the money appears to be available, it's likely the council will opt to apply for the grant.
Whether the city will win the federal grant, of course, isn't known. City staff said they're optimistic, however.
The council must also decide whether to apply for another federal grant for a $15 million project to add hybrid electric "Sprinter" buses and increase the frequency along Central Avenue and Beatties Ford Road routes. Similar buses are already being used to run to the airport from the uptown Transportation Center. This would mean a rider could get on a "Sprinter" on Central and ride clear to the airport. The Charlotte Area Transit System already has the money needed to pay its share of the project. As we said last week, that should be a no-brainer.
The streetcar question is trickier and more political. The full route would eventually run from Beatties Ford Road at Interstate 85 through uptown and out Central Avenue to Eastland Mall. The section under consideration goes from Presbyterian Hospital to the Transportation Center uptown. Tracks and some of the wiring have already been installed between the hospital and Kings Drive, and the city already owns three faux-historic streetcars.
Last year the council's Republicans voted against the streetcar planning money, objecting to spending money on a project with no revenue source. And last week, council member Warren Cooksey pointed out that the $12 million might be better spent on other needs such as sidewalks and bike lanes.
Democrats, many of whom represent neighborhoods where the streetcar would run, are more enthusiastic about its potential to lure development. Mayor Anthony Foxx has said repeatedly the streetcar would likely be built in small segments - as other cities such as Portland, Ore., have done.
Some people don't think the streetcar is a good idea to start with. Some people think any transit spending is wasteful. We disagree.
The need for good public transit will only grow stronger as the city grows, traffic worsens, gas prices rise and the city struggles to escape its auto-generated ozone pollution problem.
Now, it appears, the city might get $25 million in unexpected federal money. It would be smart to take advantage of it.
Anthony Foxx: No Property Tax Hike For Charlotte Streetcar
Democratic mayoral candidate Anthony Foxx said Thursday he wouldn't raise property taxes to pay for a streetcar, despite his vote to move ahead with the project and suggestions from city staff that a hike may be needed.
"We aren't proposing or considering any increase in property taxes, and now would be a terrible time to think of that," he told the Observer. "I will not raise property taxes for the streetcar."
The streetcar and property tax issues came up when Foxx and Republican John Lassiter spoke to a luncheon of the Charlotte Regional Mortgage Lenders Association at the Myers Park Country Club.
Lassiter has also opposed property tax increases.
The rivals, both at-large city council members, were on opposite sides last month when council Democrats overrode Mayor Pat McCrory's veto of $4.5 million to start design work on the line.
The project, which would run from Johnson C. Smith University through uptown to Eastland Mall, would cost over $450 million. It's unclear where the money would come from.
"I could not promise to build something I didn't know how to pay for," Lassiter told the mortgage group.
Foxx defended his vote. He said the line would bring economic development to neighborhoods that need it. One study showed new development could generate $112million in new property taxes over 20 years.
"The future of our city is dependent on making every part ... a great place to live in," he told the group.
On Monday the city staff outlined ways to pay for the line to the council's Transportation Committee, which Foxx chairs. One option called for creating a special taxing district along the line and enacting a 4-cent tax hike for every $100 of taxable value. Another called for a citywide tax increase of 2 cents.
The city's current tax rate is 45.86cents.
"By supporting the streetcar, I'm not committing myself to a property tax increase," Foxx said later.
During the meeting, he defended his vote for a 2006 city budget that raised property taxes 9 percent - the first increase in at least a decade. Lassiter voted against the budget.
Foxx said the tax hike helped pay for the 70 new officers the police chief requested, more than in the no-new-tax budget supported by Lassiter and McCrory. It also brought in money for new roads and neighborhood improvements.
He suggested that without the tax hike, Charlotte's crime rate might not have gone down. Police say it's down 20percent from a year ago.
"You can't out a price on (a) family's sense of safety, put a value on the life saved because we had the additional police officers," he told the group.
Lassiter has criticized "unnecessary and unmanaged government spending" that he says had nothing to do with police, roads or neighborhoods.
Thursday he alluded to this year's General Assembly actions that raised the state sales tax by a penny and enacted surcharges of 2 percent or 3percent on some taxpayers. He told the mortgage lenders that he'll keep taxes down.
"We're in a high-taxed city in a high-taxed state," he said. "We've got to right the ship."
Finding That Charlotte Streetcar Money
Just finished an interview with Charlotte budget director Ruffin Hall (NOT Ruffin Poole, just in case you're confused by the Ruffins), to find where in the budget this $12 million was hiding. What $12 million? See yesterday's post. Or read on.
Of course, it isn't really hiding. The city staff is pointing to a variety of city funds (listed in the city budget) that still have money in them, funds set aside for just this sort of thing: a project that arises unexpectedly for which elected officials would like to find money.
In this instance, the city is considering whether to set aside $12 million, which it would spend if it gets a $25 million federal grant. The $37 million total would build a 1.5-mile first segment of a proposed 10-mile streetcar line. The City Council is to vote Monday on whether to apply for that grant (plus another one that would add hybrid electric buses). If the city can't find/isn't willing to spend the $12 million there's no point in applying for the grant. Here's a quick rundown of the $12 million:
First, it is capital expense money.
That's a separate, $803 million budget apart from the overall $1 billion operating budget that pays for things such as police officers and garbage collection. (You may or may not like the idea of spending the $12 million but it isn't money that could be used to hire more police.) Remember, too, the airport and the water/sewer departments, while counted in the budget, are self-sustaining "enterprise funds." (Also here's the perennial reminder: The city doesn't pay for schools, parks and recreation, welfare, mental health facilities or a variety of other needs paid by the county or state.)
- $2.5 million in streetcar planning funds. Last summer, in a controversial vote, the City Council allocated $8 million for streetcar planning and engineering. The contract came in for less, and $2.5 million is available. You can find it on page 166 of the city budget. Here's a link. This comes from a pot of money called PAYGO (pay as you go). This budget year the city put roughly $96 million into this fund, which is spent for things like transit maintenance, street improvements, roof replacements, etc.
- $10.5 million in reserve for economic development initiatives. This isn't PAYGO money. It's money set aside to repay debt the city might choose to take on. The council's transportation committee members Thursday said they'd use $5.5 million of this fund. Look on page 163 of the budget.
- $ 7 million in business corridor revitalization funds. These, too are PAYGO funds, as yet unspent. The committee didn't want to do this.
- $4 million in Smart Growth fund. That brings us to a multimillion "Smart Growth" fund, which the committee recommends using as part of the needed $12 million. Many folks wonder: The city just has $4 million sitting around that we didn't know about? I asked Hall. It turns out the money isn't just sitting around in some secret account. It's been used to help with transit-oriented development along South Boulevard.
Hall said it's a revolving fund (i.e., the city replenishes it with money the fund itself generates) that the council hasn't put money into for years. Because it doesn't get money allocated to it, it's not a line item on the budget. It would be on the city's financial statement, he said. Here's a link to that. I ran out of time to do more than a search for "Smart Growth" which turned up nothing. (Other writing deadlines loom larger and larger as I type this.)
Hall said the Smart Growth fund was used, for instance, when the city spent money for its proposed Scaleybark transit oriented development project. When the city sold the land to a developer (the project is stuck in the recession and is delayed), the money went back into this fund. I have a call in to Economic Development director Tom Flynn, in whose department Hall said, the fund sits. Hall didn't know whether taking $4 million would drain the fund.
Update: Flynn just called. He says that when Scaleybark Partners, the developer, repays the city in February the Smart Growth fund will have $4 million in it. It was set up as a revolving fund 9 or 10 years ago, he said, to be used for projects of that sort.
Bottom line: Money is fungible. A smart city manager will always keep things flexible enough so he or she can find funds for projects the elected officials want - or for things that arise unexpectedly midyear. I want managers who can do that. At the same time, I think the public (and elected officials) are owed more transparency about how much money is sitting, awaiting expenditure. It's smart to have some reserve money. It's also smart, if you're a council member, to know just what your reserve money is and where it lives in your budget.
Proposal Puts Charlotte Streetcar On Track In 3 Years
A proposed streetcar line could be operating in three years under a plan presented Thursday to city leaders.
City council's transportation committee voted 3-2 to recommend applying for a $24.9 million federal grant to help fund the construction of a 1.5-mile rail line from the Transportation Center on Trade Street to Presbyterian Hospital in Elizabeth.
The full council is expected to vote on the proposed grant application at their meeting on Monday.
Charlotte would contribute $12 million toward the estimated $37 million cost of extending the existing train tracks on Elizabeth Avenue and the installation of electrical cables needed to power the system.
Passengers would be carried by three trolleys already in Charlotte.
Money already allocated for a streetcar engineering study and funds set aside for economic development projects could cover the city's portion of the cost, according to information presented to committee members Thursday afternoon.
The transit project would be the first segment of a planned 10-mile streetcar line from Beatties Ford Road, near I-85, to Eastland Mall.
About 950 daily riders are projected for the line between the Transportation Center and Elizabeth. The estimated annual cost for operating the trolleys is $1.5 million.
Construction of the initial 1.5-mile segment would involve the closing of streets, a thought that concerns business owners on Elizabeth Avenue.
A half-mile of the street was shut down for nearly two years as rail lines were installed and utility lines were upgraded. The road reopened in August, but not before several storefronts were shuttered.
"It was a pure nightmare," said Maria Amvrazis, co-owner of Athenian Corner Grill, a restaurant which opened after construction was completed. "All of the businesses here were crying."
Amvrazis said she wanted a promise from city leaders that the work on a streetcar line would not injure her business.
"Reassure us that there will not be any crazy closings like it was," she said.
CATS Requests More Tax Dollars For Charlotte Streetcar
CATS said the streetcar line planned between Beatties Ford Road and Eastland Mall would cost about $372 million. It would open in two parts. The first part would open in 2018 and the rest would open in 2023.
Many people along the proposed line are pressuring officials to build it sooner. As a result, city leaders are looking at ways to pay for it sooner. They asked CATS to look into other other funding options to build the line now, like new taxes for people who own property along the line or even projects that aren't built yet along the stretch.
Charlotte council member Nancy Carter said, "It's crucial for us. It's moving people. This is public transit."
People voted for the half-cent sales tax for projects like this and, transit officials said, that'll cover part of the tab, but not all of it.
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Sources: Meck Deck Blog, John Locke Foundation, McClatchy Newspapers, Charlotte Observer, WCNC, Baltimore Sun, Charmeck.org, Google Maps
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