N.C.’s metro mayors say stimulus money divided unequally
By Jennifer Moxley
View the original article and video from News 14 Carolina
CONCORD, N.C. — For the first time, mayors across North Carolina were in the same room to discuss how the state spends money on roads.
Gov. Beverly Perdue signed into law Thursday a bill that would give local governments the chance to impose additional taxes and tolls for road construction, an issue the mayors in the state’s 26 largest cities had on their agenda.
The mayors gathered at Lowe’s Motor Speedway to discuss two major topics — money and transportation. Many are unnerved about how the state divvies out money through a 20-year-old formula designed to be equal.
“We found that any way you slice it, based on population, unemployment or economic activity, the metropolitan regions of our state did not get their fair share of the stimulus money,” High Point Mayor Rebecca Smothers said.
The infusion of more than $800 million in federal stimulus money for transportation put the distribution formula in the spotlight. Before more money comes down the pipeline, the mayors want to change the way money is given out.
“We had to get the money out quickly and depend on what was there,” David Agnew, White House Deputy Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, explained. “What we’ve learned over the past few months is that many of those distribution mechanisms for the transportation money could have been made better,
The mayors wanted other options to raise additional funds for local transit needs. And just before Thursday’s meeting, Perdue signed legislation giving local governments the option for a transit sales tax and tolls.
“It’s not just about commerce and economic development anymore, it’s also about how we preserve the quality of life in this state and how we preserve the natural beauty,” Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy said.
Perdue’s legislation will allow counties to hold a vote on a local sales tax that would fund transit. Mecklenburg County already had that option, but in Triangle and Triad counties, leaders could pass a half-cent sales tax for transit. In other counties, the option would be for a quarter-cent per dollar tax.
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