Local

Voters will need to approve bond for Community Investment Plan

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — On Monday, Charlotte city leaders are expected to approve a $2.1 billion budget and voters will have to decide how to spend some of it.
 
The budget will include $145 million in bond money as part of the City's $816.4 million Community Investment Plan. The plan is so expensive, city leaders are breaking it up into three parts for funding and work.
 
Voters have to approve spending the money through a bond referendum on the November ballot.
 
Seventy-six percent of the $145 million in funding for the first group of projects will go towards transportation needs.
 
That equals about $106 million and it will include improving roads, sidewalks, bridges and traffic signals. A portion of the money will go toward projects to make walking in Charlotte safer.
 
The first set of projects will also address improving with $12 million going toward the area north of Uptown that someone city leaders refer to as North End.
 
Officials have discussed having it mirror South End with office, retail and restaurant space where old vacant buildings are now.
 
Twenty million dollars will go toward improving neighborhoods across Charlotte that will include infrastructure projects to improve intersections and pedestrian crosswalks.
 
City council has already set aside the money to pay back the bonds that will be borrowed for these projects.
 
Voters will be making the decision to fund more improvement projects two more times in 2016 and 2018.