Local Rail Transit in the Crosshairs

Seemingly out of nowhere, every high-dollar rail transit project on the CATS project list has suddenly come under serious fire. 

The Red Line missteps have been well documented here in this blog and elsewhere, but in the last few days the Charlotte Streetcar and even the Blue Line Extension are no longer the sure things once predicted.

This week's Charlotte City Council defeat of the City Manager's budget proposal was at least partially driven by the high cost of the Streetcar funding included in the budget's capital plan - $119 million in bonds that would be paid for by a large property tax increase.  After last November's elections and the near sweep of City Council by the Democrats, passage of the budget and the Streetcar funding seemed a sure thing.  Tuesday's 5-6 vote with 4 Dems voting with the Council's 2 Republicans came as a total shock - particularly to Mayor Foxx who has long been a Streetcar proponent.  When this budget ordinance comes back around later this month, don't be surprised is the Streetcar is the major spending item that is not on the list.  See this Observer article for more background.

Even more surprising is the risk posed to the Blue Line Extension to UNCC in northeast Charlotte by the State Legislature.  The State Senate has passed a budget amendment that removes funding for Charlotte rail projects which would effectively kill the BLE.  While this is an outside possibility, polling shows that it would be supported statewide if not by the entire local legislative delegation - both Republicans and Democrats.  Mecklenburg Republican, Ric Killian, has proposed a gas tax cap that will likely be voted on this session.  If it passes, recent polling by Civitas shows that funding for mass transit is the top target of taxpayers if gas tax revenue is reduced.  See question #9 on these recent polling results.  59% of respondents say cut mass transit first if the gas tax cap brings in less revenue.  The next closest is "New Road Construction" at 27%.  If the gas tax cap passes, this will give them political cover to pull BLE funding.

Oh what a difference six months makes.