Charlotte has highest sales tax in N.C.

Submitted by ryanteaguebeckwith on October 15, 2008 - 2:00pm.
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Charlotte has the highest sales tax in North Carolina.

Of the 100 counties in North Carolina, 91 have a 6.75 percent sales tax and eight have a 7 percent sales tax, according to research by the N.C. Department of Revenue. Only Mecklenburg County, home to Charlotte, has a 7.25 percent rate.

The higher rate is because of a local 0.5 percent sales and use tax for public transportation.

In 1997, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory lobbied the legislature to allow Mecklenburg to charge the additional half-cent sales tax, which passed in a referendum the following year.

The tax raises about $77 million a year to pay for buses and the newly opened Lynx light rail line. 

In 2007, a referendum to repeal the transit tax was defeated.

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Re: Charlotte has highest sales tax in N.C.

Submitted by McCroryManager on October 15, 2008 - 4:14pm.

Ok, let me get this straight...if McCrory is to blame for a half cent of the sales tax, then who is to blame for the other 6.25? Maybe the Democrat County Commission? Maybe Negative Bev and the unfunded state mandates? Maybe Negtative Bev and the state government who according to the Charlotte Observer have underfunded the courts so that Mecklenburg County has to suplement them? Maybe Negtative Bev and the state government who according to the Charlotte Observer don't pay teachers enough so Mecklenburg County has to suplement teacher pay?

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Sales Tax: 71% approved in 2007

Submitted by concerned53 on October 15, 2008 - 2:24pm.

In 2007, the .05 percent sales and use tax for public transportation was reaffirmed by 71% of the voters in Mecklenburg County. The Lynx light rail line has become wildly successful since it opened last year, surpassing usage that was expected in 2020 I believe.

FYI: Before the line opened, opponents wanted to call the single line, the McCrory Line as they felt it would be a failure. Even opponents now call it a success but they have obviously gone back to calling Charlotte's single line, the Blue Line. Go figure.

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