Matthews Mayor John Higdon wants Charlotte to pay the roughly $2 million penalties facing small towns that vote against the proposed I-77 south toll lanes.

Higdon issued the challenge ahead of a Sept. 23 vote by the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization (CRTPO) that will determine whether the $4 billion project moves forward, WFAE reported.

"Just like a regressive tax, those penalties hit the bottom lines of small towns far harder than they hit Charlotte," Higdon said. "If Charlotte is truly committed to stopping this project in its current form, it should step up and offer to absorb those fines."

The toll lanes would widen I-77 from uptown Charlotte to the South Carolina state line. Republican state lawmakers included a provision in the state budget requiring local governments that oppose the project to repay the state nearly $70 million in design costs. The N.C. Department of Transportation (NCDOT) released an itemized expense list the week of Aug. 31 showing costs dating to November 2018. NCDOT has said the final figure is still being calculated.

Higdon argued that towns reversing their opposition are doing so under financial pressure, not because they changed their minds. Cornelius and Monroe already switched sides. The proposed toll lanes do not pass through Matthews or Davidson, yet each town could owe roughly $2 million.

Charlotte holds more than 40% of the weighted vote on the CRTPO. The Charlotte City Council voted 6-5 in May to pull support from the toll lanes. Mecklenburg County, Davidson and Matthews have also opposed the project. If all four hold their votes, the project stalls.

As of WFAE's Sept. 7 report, Charlotte council members had not publicly discussed Higdon's proposal. Higdon declined to say how Matthews would vote on Sept. 23.

The financial stakes extend beyond the penalty itself. NC Board of Transportation member Stephen Rosenburgh warned at the August CRTPO meeting that a no vote carries broader consequences. "We stop work … It's not just work on 77. It's all the projects we have in those jurisdictions," Rosenburgh said at the meeting, as Queen City News reported.

Sustain Charlotte founder Shannon Binns questioned the spending, saying he does not understand how the state spent $69.5 million to reach only 10% to 15% of the design. NCDOT spent nearly $60 million of the total on consultants, WFAE reported Sept. 4. Planning firm RS&H received the largest share at nearly $28 million.

Mecklenburg County Commissioner Leigh Altman, the county's CRTPO representative, challenged the penalty at an Aug. 6 county commissioners meeting. She said she believes the provision may illegally strip the planning organization's authority over local transportation decisions, as WFAE reported at the time.