Mike Bryant
At-Large Trustee, MPTA Board of Trustees
Roles
- Government Official — Metropolitan Public Transportation Authority
- Government Official — MPTA Executive Committee
- Government Official — MPTA Operations and Safety Committee
Coverage (18 articles)
A SNAP Penalty Could Cost Mecklenburg $30 Million to $42 Million a Year. A November Ballot Question Could Cap How It Pays.
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.
George Dunlap Sworn In as President of the National Association of Counties
George Dunlap, the District 3 member of the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners, was sworn in Monday as president of the National Association of Counties. The county says he is its first commissioner to hold the office. Dunlap arrives after 18 years on the county board, six as chair, and will lead an organization representing more than 3,000 U.S. counties.
On LaSalle Street, Mecklenburg Bets the Right Training Can Double a Paycheck
Mecklenburg County will turn a long-vacant building on LaSalle Street, the former home of Project Lift, into a west side workforce hub run by the Urban League of Central Carolinas and four partner organizations. Commissioners heard the fourth and most concrete presentation on the plan, called Urban Spark, on July 7. The pitch: move residents of the 28216 ZIP code from starting wages the partners put near $42,000 into jobs paying $67,000 or more.
Mecklenburg County Drafts a Plan to Round Cash Up to the Nearest Nickel
With the U.S. Mint's last penny struck in November, Mecklenburg County is drafting a policy for cash payments made without exact change: round the total up to the nearest nickel, by no more than four cents. The rounding would be a last resort, and most county cash runs through Parks and Recreation and the libraries. But property tax law is why it only ever goes up, and why the county keeps the difference.
MEDIC's Raise Is in the County Budget. It Just Isn't Funded Yet.
Mecklenburg County's new budget raised 721 county workers to a living wage but left MEDIC's paramedics and EMTs out — their raise sits in restricted contingency, pending two studies and a second vote. Three commissioners who lost the fight to fund it now used the adoption to signal they aren't done.
The Budget Was Never in Doubt. Getting to the Vote Took Most of an Hour.
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."
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.
Mecklenburg board adds $1.6 million for 13 community programs, one over the manager's objection
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 commissioners advance FY27 budget to June 2 adoption
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.
The County Is Funding a $118 Million Training Center in Matthews. Its Opponents Came to the Budget Hearing.
Inside the $2.6 billion budget Mecklenburg commissioners adopt June 2 is the county's share of a $118 million public-safety training complex in Matthews — Central Piedmont's "Community Lifeline," which opponents call "Cop City." At the May 21 budget hearing, a transparency lawsuit and a cluster of opponents collided with a board that, by its own rule, would not respond.
At Mecklenburg's Budget Hearing, a Flat Tax Rate Met a Long Line of Funding Requests
County Manager Michael Bryant's recommended FY2027 budget holds Mecklenburg's property tax rate flat and fully funds Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. At a three-and-a-half-hour public hearing, about sixty residents and nonprofit leaders told the Board of County Commissioners what that budget still leaves out — while a few urged them to pass it as written. No vote was taken; the board is set to adopt the budget June 2.
The $400 Million Mecklenburg Covers for the State Is Sixteen Cents of Its Tax Rate
At Mecklenburg County's May 20 budget overview, Budget Director Adrian Cox put a number on what the county spends covering the state's share of CMS: more than $400 million — about sixteen cents of the property-tax rate. The recommended FY27 budget holds the rate flat by shifting a penny between funds, but the structural gap remains.
On Data Centers, Mecklenburg County Wants a Voice It Mostly Doesn't Have
Mecklenburg commissioners got a deliberately neutral briefing on data centers at their May 19 meeting and signaled they want a position on the fast-growing industry. The catch: under North Carolina law, nearly all the zoning power belongs to the cities, not the county.
CMPD Reports 21 Percent Drop in Violent Crime, Warns 270 Vacancies Threaten to Undo It
Chief Estella Patterson reported violent crime down 21 percent and overall crime down 9 percent across Charlotte-Mecklenburg in 2025, but warned that roughly 270 CMPD vacancies and an unfunded ETJ mandate covering 86 square miles threaten to undo the gains. The BOCC also heard its third update on converting the former Bates 4th Row Library at 2324 LaSalle Street into a community center.
Mecklenburg County Spent $12 Million on Real Estate Monday Night. The Biggest Purchase Is for Housing.
Mecklenburg County voted unanimously to spend $4.5 million on the former Smith School at 1600 Tyvola Road — a site CMS vacated five years ago over a cancer cluster investigation — for future housing. A second vote authorized $7.5 million for 39 acres to replace Berryhill K-8. The biggest debate of the night was over parking.
Mecklenburg County Chair Tells Staff to Explore Litigation Against State Over Property Tax Legislation
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.
Affordable Housing Tops Mecklenburg's Budget Survey for the Second Year. Willingness to Pay for It Is Dropping.
Mecklenburg County residents ranked affordable housing as their top budget priority for the second consecutive year. But willingness to accept a tax increase to fund it dropped to 48.8 percent — and lower-income residents were the least likely to say yes.
Mecklenburg County Invested $390 Million in New Jobs, $334.6 Million in Housing, and Still Had to Feed 140,000 Residents When the Federal Government Shut Down
Commission Chair Mark Jerrell delivered his 2026 State of the County address, covering $390 million in new economic development projects, $334.6 million in housing investments since 2018, a record MECK Pre-K enrollment year, and a pointed message to the General Assembly about unfunded mandates — all while recounting how the county fed 140,000 residents during the federal government shutdown.