City’s $926M capital investment plan dead

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Construction companies saw job opportunities vanish Monday night when the Charlotte City Council rejected a $926 million capital investment plan after failing to reach an agreement on the plan’s size.

Council members also killed a proposed 8 percent property tax increase, which would have funded the capital investment program.

Councilman Michael Barnes had proposed a smaller tax increase, which would have funded a smaller capital investment plan. But Mayor Anthony Foxx vetoed the reduced spending plan, saying it would not do enough for Charlotte from 2013 to 2017.

The streetcar from Uptown to Charlotte’s westside, a project that was set to receive $119 million over the next four years, was among the larger items included in the spending plan. Also gone is a proposal to build six police stations throughout the city and hundreds of millions of dollars that would have gone toward other neighborhood improvements.

Democrats LaWana Mayfield, John Autry, James Mitchell and Patsy Kinsey, along with Republicans Andy Dulin and Warren Cooksey, voted against the tax hike and investment plan.

Kimberly McMillan, spokeswoman for the city, pointed out that although the council did not approve the $926 million capital spending plan, it did approve $3.3 billion for other capital projects, including $1.2 billion for transit, $1 billion for the airport, $622 million for utilities and $261 million for stormwater projects over the next five years.