Charlotte’s 1% Transit Tax: What It Does, What It Costs, Who Runs It, and Where City Council Candidates Stand

What the ballot is really about

Mecklenburg voters will decide whether to add a 1% county sales tax for transportation. Permission to ask comes from state law: Session Law 2025-39, House Bill 948, known as the P.A.V.E. Act. The statute amends the state’s local-sales-tax code for Mecklenburg and creates a brand-new regional transit authority with detailed strings and spending limits. Read the law here: Session Law 2025-39 (HB 948) PDF. North Carolina General Assembly

If you want the shorter versions before we go deep, start with our primers: Mecklenburg’s 1% Transportation Sales Tax: Full breakdown and The Penny That Could Redraw Mecklenburg. For race-by-race context, use our election hub, Poll Dance 2025: Join the Dance.

What money can be spent on

The law restricts spending to a triad: roads, passenger rail, and bus or microtransit. It also fixes the split across the full program window.

Key statutory requirements, paraphrased with short verbatim quotes:

• Mode split locked by law. The Act limits rail to “no more than” forty percent of program funds and fixes bus and microtransit at twenty percent, with roads at forty percent. See program allocation in Session Law 2025-39, Part IV (distribution and use). Session Law 2025-39 (HB 948). North Carolina General Assembly
• Rail gate. The authority cannot start other rail corridors until completion of “at least 50% of the Red Line.” The gate is explicit in the statute’s conditions on rail expenditures. Session Law 2025-39 (HB 948). North Carolina General Assembly
• Reimbursement clause. Early proceeds must reimburse Charlotte for purchase of Norfolk Southern’s O-Line right-of-way used for the Red Line. Session Law 2025-39 (HB 948). North Carolina General Assembly
• Monthly distribution mechanics. The statute directs monthly distributions of net proceeds, sends a fixed road share directly to the municipalities, and assigns the transit share to the new authority. Session Law 2025-39 (HB 948). North Carolina General Assembly

Note on quoting: we cannot reproduce long chunks of the statute verbatim here; we’ve quoted short clauses and paraphrased the rest. Use the PDF above for the full text. For legislative staff analysis, see the nonpartisan bill summary: NCGA Staff Bill Summary (HB 948). dashboard.ncleg.gov

What the split looks like in practice

• Roads (40%). Distributed directly to Charlotte and the towns by formula. Year-one municipal estimates and example project lists are shown in the Town of Cornelius brief. Cornelius transportation sales-tax explainer. North Carolina General Assembly
• Passenger rail (≤40%). Red Line first, due to the 50% gate above. Any Silver Line segment or Blue extension would move only after the Red Line hits that halfway milestone in construction. Session Law 2025-39 (HB 948). North Carolina General Assembly
• Bus + microtransit (20%). The public pitch highlights 15-minute service on top routes, half-hour or better systemwide, shelters and benches, and on-demand links. See the kickoff coverage. WFAE campaign kickoff. North Carolina General Assembly

For Red Line background and the O-Line purchase details, the city’s project page is here: CATS Red Line project page. North Carolina General Assembly

Who runs it: a new authority with tight rules

Today’s governance is the Metropolitan Transit Commission (MTC), composed of the mayors of Charlotte, Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville, Matthews, Mint Hill, and Pineville, plus Mecklenburg County and NCDOT. That board sets policy for CATS. MTC overview. North Carolina General Assembly

Under the Act, transit would be overseen by a Metropolitan Public Transportation Authority for Mecklenburg with a 27-member board. The Act bars sitting elected officials and lobbyists from serving, imposes term limits, sets expertise criteria, and allows expansion to adjoining counties by resolution. Session Law 2025-39 (HB 948). North Carolina General Assembly

Local leaders also pledged to reserve a rider seat in each appointing cohort, contingent on qualified applicants. That pledge is not the statute; it is an appointment policy response to advocates. WCNC membership change report. North Carolina General Assembly

What it costs, who pays, what is exempt

• Program size often cited: about $19.4B over 30 years from the penny, with federal grants and fares on top. WFAE “Back to basics” FAQ. North Carolina General Assembly
• Exemptions commonly cited in public outreach: groceries, prescription drugs, and utilities. A regional partner brief also estimates about 30% of collections come from visitors. University City Partners brief. North Carolina General Assembly
• The referendum was placed on the November ballot by the Mecklenburg County Commission after the bill became law on July 1, 2025. NCGA bill page and news confirmation: WBTV/AP report. North Carolina General Assemblyhttps://www.wbtv.com

What happens if it fails

The statute includes a fallback requirement to produce a long-term transit plan update with explicit airport connectivity planning within a year. The law also provides a repeal mechanism for the tax. See Part IV for the plan requirement and repeal pathway. Session Law 2025-39 (HB 948). North Carolina General Assembly

Candidate positions, with sources and links

Use this as a snapshot. We log the public statements and votes we can document, then keep this table updated on our At-Large page and the District-by-District guide.

Table note: short entries only. Click through for long profiles.

WFAE later reported “softening” among four incumbent at-large Democrats who voiced concerns and did not pledge a yes during the kickoff period. That is not the same event as the Aug 2 forum. Read the update here: WFAE kickoff. North Carolina General Assembly

For full candidate lists across offices, use our index: Charlotte Election 2025: Full list of candidates.

Reading the statute yourself

We encourage you to read the law and mark it up. Start with the enrolled Session Law PDF and the nonpartisan bill analysis:

• Session Law 2025-39 (HB 948) PDF — the controlling text. North Carolina General Assembly
• NCGA Staff Bill Summary (HB 948) — definitions, splits, board design, and fiscal conditions. dashboard.ncleg.gov
• NCGA bill lookup page — history, editions, votes. North Carolina General Assembly

Where to go next on our site

• The ballot front door: Poll Dance 2025: Join the Dance
• At-Large explainer: How at-large works and who’s running
• District guide: All districts in one place
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About the Author

Jack Beckett is senior writer at The Charlotte Mercury. His coffee strategy mirrors the Better Bus plan: ten-minute headways during filing, thirty after. He chases statutes, not slogans, and prefers receipts to yard signs.

Creative Commons License

© 2025 The Charlotte Mercury / Strolling Ballantyne
This article, “Charlotte’s Transit Tax, Line by Line: What the Law Says, Who Runs It, and How 2025 Candidates Line Up,” by Jack Beckett is licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0.

“Charlotte’s Transit Tax, Line by Line: What the Law Says, Who Runs It, and How 2025 Candidates Line Up”
by Jack Beckett, The Charlotte Mercury (CC BY-ND 4.0)