From left, City Council member Dave Howard, city staffer Ruffin Hall, Council member LaWana Mayfield.

Arguing for citywide capital investments, and taxes to pay for them

May 29, 2012

Two members of Charlotte City Council, along with an assistant city manager, presented at the Tuesday Morning Breakfast Forum about what on that day was a proposed Capital Investment Plan that would require a small property tax increase.

By the end of the week the Charlotte City Council had signed off on the plan, which has been in the works for nearly a year. The information presented may help citizens understand the issues the city and council members are wrestling with, and some of the history of a tax rate that has often been lowered in the decades when annexation and development were swelling the city's tax base.

Some handouts available to the Forum audience on Tuesday are quite essential to understanding the presentations and Q&A excerpts below. Assistant City Manager Ruffin Hall brought with him three handouts. The latest versions of these documents could not be found online, so pictures were taken of each page and assembled on the following pages:

GUIDE: This four-page guide includes the map at right, along with a statement of the goals, and details of how the bonds will be spent.

DEFINITIONS: Some terms are defined, the impact on the tax rate is listed and the primary projects are listed by city corridor.

SLIDES: These PowerPoint slides include information on the money raised in previous city bond referenda, the impact of the proposed tax increase on the tax bills for homes of $70,000, $100,000 and $200,000 homes, and a bar chart comparing Charlotte's tax rate with rates in other N.C. cities.

The first three videos include the initial comments by Ruffin, Howard and Mayfield. The remaining videos include excerpts from the Q&A.