The bill that would charge Charlotte tens of millions of dollars for killing the I-77 South toll lanes does not stop at the city line. The smaller towns around it, the ones whose representatives voted to rescind, could owe a share as well.
At the May 20 meeting of the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization, the representatives of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, Davidson, Cornelius, Matthews, Mint Hill, Huntersville and the Metropolitan Transit Commission voted yes on the motion to rescind, and those governments could now be billed. The amount each would owe, out of a $60 million total estimated by the state, would track its weighted vote at the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization. Charlotte's share is the largest, at about 41 percent.
The measure, written by Sen. Vickie Sawyer, a Republican whose district covers Iredell and part of Mecklenburg County, would also bar the state from formally removing the project until January 1, 2027, and would block local governments from using the new Mecklenburg transportation sales tax to cover the cost. Strolling Firethorne covered the original reversal in May; the full account of the new bill, and the Mecklenburg board's response to it, is in The Charlotte Mercury.