The town of Matthews has publicly declared its opposition to a one-cent regional sales tax proposed to fund transportation projects in Mecklenburg County, raising concerns over transportation equity within the region and their exclusion from planned light rail developments. Mayor John Higdon of Matthews explained, "We would be missing out on decades of tax growth, tax revenue, if we just went with buses," as reported by QCNews.
While most regional partners, including the city of Charlotte and five towns within the county, support the initiative and are working to push the transit sales tax onto the November 2025 ballot, Matthews has voted against it diverging from the collective stance, furthermore, during a board of commissioners meeting, Matthews officials and residents aired their grievances, vocalizing a sense of betrayal over the switch to an "untested Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system," as noted by a statement obtained from WCNC.
Matthews leaders also expressed skepticism over the effectiveness of the proposed BRT as an alternative to light rail, with Mayor Higdon wagering in hyperbole, "I would bet my house — and you can come get it if I’m wrong — that if BRT is built in Mecklenburg it won’t be true BRT, and we won’t have true 100% dedicated lines," lamenting the deviation from previous rail plans, and voiced in a BPR interview.
The contentious tax would increase by one cent, compounding upon an existing half-cent transit sales tax, and would finance a broad spectrum of transportation infrastructure such as new roads, light rail, and commuter lines, while influential groups like the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance and the Charlotte Executive Leadership Council have endorsed the proposal, Matthews commissioners have suggested alternatives including either a heftier sales tax increase to fully fund the Silver Line overlooked in current propositions or to pivot altogether towards enhancing the bus service rather than proceeding with new proposed train lines and with close to 31,000 residents, the opposition from Matthews could impact the referendum's outcome especially considering it may be slated for a typically low-turnout municipal election as relayed by BPR.
