Articles Tagged with I-77 Express Lanes

North Carolina court funding and Charlotte sports stadium subsidies reveal a familiar pattern in local and state government spending. When a wealthy team owner has enough leverage, public officials find a funding mechanism, whether the decision is made at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center or on Jones Street in Raleigh. Charlotte has been my permanent home for more than forty-three years. For more than thirty-four of those years, since graduating from law school, I have practiced law in Mecklenburg County courts. Throughout that time, I have heard a different message whenever the subject is the court system, mental-health treatment, transit safety, working highway lights, road maintenance, or meaningful traffic relief. Then we hear about shortages, divided authority, restricted accounts, delayed projects, and limited revenue.

I am not against sports. I am against using public money to enrich billionaire team owners while public institutions struggle to perform basic duties. When I go out to eat in Mecklenburg County, I pay the county’s additional 1 percent tax on prepared food and beverages, just like everyone else in town. While not a property tax, it still involves the government taking money and giving it to someone else. Calling it hospitality revenue, tourism money, or a restricted fund does not change its source. The restriction may control where government spends the money, but it does not make the money private.