At-Large
AL
Leigh Altman
Commissioner, At-Large (Vice Chair), Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners
Also Mecklenburg County delegate (Commissioner), Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization
- Party
- Democratic
- Office phone
- 980-314-2871
Leigh Altman serves as Vice Chair of the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners. She is an at-large commissioner in her third term and the county’s representative on the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization (CRTPO), where she holds the county’s three votes. She also represented the county on the Metropolitan Transit Commission until it held its final meeting in May 2026.
Chair Jerrell credited Altman’s work as “critical to our community’s transportation needs and future plans,” particularly during the lead-up to the November 2025 Transit Tax Referendum, the vote that approved the one-cent transit sales tax and is projected to generate $20 billion in economic impact over 30 years.
At CRTPO she has carried the county’s position against the I-77 South toll lanes. In June 2026 she called a state bill demanding repayment from the governments that voted the project down an attempt “to threaten and coerce,” and in August she told the board the state transportation department’s own accounting undercut the repayment figure. The county voted no when the board reinstated the project in September.
In our reporting · 17 stories
Reopened Mecklenburg Jail Begins Holding Federal Detainees
The budget to reopen Jail North counted on $1.9 million from housing federal inmates. The first U.S. Marshals Service detainees arrived Nov. 2.
What Charlotte Got in Writing on I-77
Eight days before the agreement was signed, the city's lawyer told council no agreement existed yet.
CRTPO Revives I-77 South Toll Lanes; Two Mayors Resign
The regional transportation board reinstated the $4.3 billion I-77 South toll lane project Wednesday, with a $69.5 million state bill hanging over any town that kept voting no. Matthews and Mecklenburg County voted no anyway, and the mayors of Matthews and Davidson resigned from the board afterward.
I-77 Toll Lanes: Charlotte Unmoved, $60 Million Disputed
At its last meeting before the September 23 reinstatement vote, CRTPO heard that Charlotte's position on the I-77 South toll lanes is unchanged, that the alternatives analysis cannot finish in time, and that the $60 million repayment figure is disputed by the county's account of NCDOT's own spending.
SNAP Penalty Could Cost Mecklenburg Up to $42 Million a Year
A federal penalty tied to North Carolina's food-assistance error rate could take $30 million to $42 million a year out of Mecklenburg County's budget, and the county will owe a share of it even if its own error rate stays under the federal limit. The county's budget director called it a shift of federal costs onto local residents, from a program funded by income tax onto a county whose revenue levers are "really limited to property tax." Whether the General Assembly must cap property tax is the question on the November 3 ballot.
Raleigh Wants $60 Million Back for Killing I-77 Toll Lanes
A bill in Raleigh, written by Sen. Vickie Sawyer, would require the Charlotte-area governments that voted to kill the I-77 South toll lanes in May to repay the state an estimated $60 million, freeze the decision until 2027, and withhold state highway money until it is paid. Mecklenburg commissioners, briefed June 16, called it a retaliatory power grab.
Mecklenburg County Adopts 2026-27 Budget Unchanged
Mecklenburg County's 2026-27 budget was a foregone conclusion, but adopting it still took the board most of an hour, through nine contract recusals, a failed park-appointment slate, three motions to reconsider, and a candidate name nobody could keep straight. Chair Mark Jerrell narrated the mess himself: "It was clunky."
Transit Board Says Goodbye to Brent Cagle, Who Steadied CATS
At the MTC's final meeting, members praised interim CATS CEO Brent Cagle for steadying an agency in crisis since he arrived in December 2022. The tributes land as the MPTA's national search for a permanent CEO, a job Cagle is eligible to pursue, runs in parallel.
Transit Commission Holds Final Meeting, Hands CATS to MPTA
The Metropolitan Transit Commission held its final meeting May 27 after 27 years, adopting an amended CATS fare policy and formally handing operational control to the new Metropolitan Public Transportation Authority. The MPTA takes over July 1, the same day the one-cent PAVE Act transit tax takes effect.
Mecklenburg commissioners advance FY27 budget to June 2 vote
A 7-1 vote sends the FY2027 operating budget to ordinance-drafting for June 2 adoption. Roughly $1.6 million in additional fund-balance allocations cleared. MEDIC's proposed $25.53/hr wage-floor move was deferred 5-3 to restricted contingency pending two outside studies.
Mecklenburg adds $1.6 million for 13 community programs
Thirteen new fund-balance allocations cleared at Thursday's FY27 straw vote, eleven external community partners plus two internal Park & Rec restorations. The $10,000 Carolina Raptor Center maintenance award passed over Manager Bryant's stated opposition.
Mecklenburg board parks MEDIC wage-floor move
A late substitute motion placed $2,293,759 in restricted contingency rather than fund a same-day move of MEDIC's EMT minimum wage to the new $25.53 county floor. Three commissioners stayed certain and lost. Two outside studies, by July and November, will inform the next decision.
Vi Lyles to Resign June 30; Race to Replace Her Has Started
Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles announced Thursday that she will resign on June 30, ending a tenure that began in 2017. Under North Carolina law, the City Council will appoint a Democrat to serve the remainder of her term, and the field is already organizing in public, with former Mayor Jennifer Roberts offering to fill the vacancy and Council Member Dante Anderson breaking for the outsider option. The vote that decides who fills the seat has not been scheduled.
MTC Closes CATS Fare Plan Comment, Cash-Rider Question Open
At the final public hearing on the Charlotte Area Transit System's Fare Modernization Program, public commenter Carson Cohn told the MTC that CATS had promised him an answer over a month ago on whether the new system would force cash riders to pay double for transfer trips, and had not delivered it. CATS staff anticipate requesting MTC adoption at the May 27 meeting, the body's last before the new Metropolitan Public Transportation Authority assumes operational control on July 1. The proposal eliminates paper transfers for cash riders while introducing fare capping, a two-hour electronic pass, and an expanded reduced-fare program.
Mecklenburg Chair Asks Staff to Explore Suing State on Taxes
Mecklenburg County Commission Chair Mark Jerrell directed staff to explore litigation options against the state of North Carolina after a briefing on four property tax bills advancing through the General Assembly. The board's sharpest target: a proposed constitutional amendment that would cap annual property tax increases, threatening the county's ability to fund $484 million in state-mandated costs.
Wilson Center Closed in December, but People Keep Showing Up
A Mecklenburg County employee told the board that more than 45 people a day are still coming to the closed Catherine M. Wilson Center on Billingsley Road. He asked why the county cannot spend $40,000 on postcards when it is projecting a $60 million surplus.
Mecklenburg Board Resets A Home for All, Splits on SoFi Deal
A holiday meeting turns serious fast: homelessness strategy shifts, Atrium's housing claims, board appointments, and a divided vote on a SoFi incentive package.