Voting along party lines Tuesday night, the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners approved a $1.39 billion budget for fiscal 2012. The budget, OK’d in a 5-4 vote, includes a lower property tax rate of 81.66 cents per $100 in valuation from 83.67 cents per $100 in valuation. It also lowers the county’s law enforcement service district tax rate [...]
The Charlotte Knights have slain the lawsuit dragon delaying their new stadium in uptown. Now, the Triple-A ball club must convince some skeptical Mecklenburg County commissioners that the project is still a good use of the land. In their pitch, the Knights are pointing to Indianapolis, a city about 440 miles away, and what they [...]
Shannon Binns’ message isn’t new, but he’s hoping how he delivers it and who helps him will make people take notice. But first he has to get the Charlotte community, particularly the business community, to financially back his vision, a goal that might not be easy as nonprofits everywhere are dealing with funding challenges in [...]
Despite the red wave that swept the House of Representatives across the country Tuesday, the Democrats on the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners were able to hang on to their majority, losing only one seat. Although all six seats held by Democrats on the Board of Commissioners were challenged by Republicans — the three incumbent [...]
There are 2,267 inmates in Mecklenburg County. Of those, 281, or 12 percent, on average are receiving mental health services, according to Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Julia Rush. But some say the jail system is falling short of caring for such inmates. They are calling for changes in the system, such as alternative sentencing, [...]
(Editor's note: The following is part of The Mecklenburg Times' coverage of the Nov. 2 elections.)
The Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners deferred a vote Tuesday night to give $75,000 to a library task force, saying more time was needed to learn where the money would be going. At the commissioners meeting, county manager Harry Jones requested that the board approve the appropriation out of the county’s contingency fund. The task force, formed this [...]
A look at happenings in local government Commission votes down immigration proposal The Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners on Monday voted down a proposal by Commissioner Bill James to request more information from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security about how a county organization could report undocumented immigrants seeking assistance for their U.S.-born child. The measure [...]