An attorney for the town of Matthews says proposed legislation in the General Assembly to retroactively make Charlotte and other local governments repay the state $60 million in design costs for the rejected Interstate 77 toll lanes is unlawful.
Republican state Sen. Vickie Sawyer has said her draft amendment is a “stick” to get Charlotte and others to change their minds and back the toll lanes again. Sawyer, who represents Iredell County and north Mecklenburg, said the local governments who rejected the toll lanes last month should be required to pay the N.C. Department of Transportation back for money already spent designing the project.
Matthews Attorney Daniel Peterson said in a memo that Sawyer’s amendment “offends due process and attacks local governments for listening to constituents.” He also wrote that “legislatures cannot retroactively punish legal conduct by declaring it illegal and punishing those who partook in the then-legal conduct.”
He also said the amendment would subvert the federal government’s requirement that local governments vote yes or no on highway projects. The Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization rejected the toll lanes last month after the Charlotte City Council voted 6-5 to rescind its support.
The memo comes as the city of Monroe in Union County is considering backing the toll lanes again at a meeting Wednesday morning. The Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization is scheduled to discuss I-77 Wednesday night.
Sawyer doesn’t like the I-77 toll lanes that opened in 2019 in north Mecklenburg. She says the tolls are “predatory” and doesn’t like that the toll revenue goes to a foreign company, Cintra, which built and manages the project.
But while Sawyer opposes the I-77 north toll lanes, her amendment would work to make the I-77 toll lanes in south Mecklenburg a reality.
Her amendment would withhold road resurfacing money from local governments that rejected the toll lanes. They also wouldn’t receive highway money for new projects until the money is repaid – or until the I-77 project is back on track.
“This has been vetted, supported and will be in the budget,” Sawyer said on her radio show Friday. “So this is me being kind to the city of Charlotte and to those communities who did vote to rescind their vote. And I am communicating to you right now that this will happen. This is not a joke. You will lose this.”
Matthews Mayor John Higdon led the charge at the CRTPO to rescind support for the toll lanes. He said Tuesday he doesn’t think the draft amendment is lawful and that he wants his colleagues on the transportation planning board to have “all information” before making a decision.
Sawyer’s amendment hasn’t been approved by the legislature yet.
