Charlotte’s growth has a curious weak spot

Good morning! Today is Wednesday, August 26, 2026. You’re reading The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with local business-y news and insights for Charlotte, N.C.

Today's Charlotte Ledger is sponsored by Arts+. Registration is open for the full school year or individual concert sessions. Each concert session offers a unique theme: A Soulful Holiday, Paint the Sky, and Time Machine.

Hi Ledger readers, Ashley here. I join many of you in mourning the loss of the legendary Dolly Parton, who died at the age of 80 yesterday — more on that later in the newsletter. But first: Smart business and economics reporting sometimes is merely being able to relate numbers on a spreadsheet to a person’s daily spending habits and decisions, and deciphering what it all means. Today, Tony Mecia dives into a perhaps surprising trend of sales tax revenue dipping in Mecklenburg County. It’s the first of a two-part series from The Ledger and our partner WFAE — the second part will be in tomorrow’s Charlotte in Motion newsletter, so stay tuned.

by Tony Mecia

In the past 12 months, musicians like Bruno Mars and Billie Eilish played sold-out concerts in Charlotte.

The Census Bureau named Charlotte the fastest-growing city in the country.

Buzzy, expensive restaurants were packed, apartments kept rising, and companies announced thousands of high-paying jobs.

Yet amid the good vibes and positive headlines, there’s one puzzling statistic: Consumer spending in Mecklenburg County appears to be flattening.

The county government told The Ledger this week that it expects its share of sales taxes collected in Mecklenburg to be $414.3M for the 12-month period that ended in June. That’s a touch less than the $414.8M the county collected in the same period in 2024-25.

State figures show a similar pattern: A Ledger analysis of N.C. Department of Revenue data shows that taxable sales in Mecklenburg were $37.13B in the year ending in June, up 3.1% from a year earlier – or about equal to the rate of inflation in that period. Mecklenburg’s increase was below the state average (4.7%) and slower than any surrounding counties, where spending is growing at a faster clip. The state numbers are considered to be the best local indicators of consumer spending.

While the slowdown in Mecklenburg’s sales tax revenue might seem baffling in a wealthy and fast-growing county, it is not an immediate financial challenge for local governments, which receive money from many other sources – most notably, property taxes.

But it does represent millions of dollars of forgone revenue that could have been used on parks, health care and housing, and could eventually shift more of a burden to property owners to fund the operation of growing local governments.

At first glance, Kings Mountain Preserve looks like a typical nature preserve, with dense forests, dirt trails and a rushing stream. But the preserve, about an hour outside of Charlotte, holds much more than trees.  

Kings Mountain Preserve serves as a green burial cemetery, an environmentally friendly process of burial in which bodies are not embalmed and are buried in a biodegradable shroud or casket. If a person chooses to be cremated, ashes are either buried in a biodegradable urn or mixed with a soil amendment and put directly in the ground. Graves are dug by hand, 3 feet deep, and headstones are small, flat rocks engraved with names.

Some money questions can be scary. How do I pay off my student loans? Can I afford to buy a home? Am I on track for retirement? How do I make my savings last and plan for the next generation?

This October, The Charlotte Ledger and Dyer & Company are teaming up for Facing Your Financial Fears: Smart Money Across Generations, a FREE four-part financial education series designed to tackle the money questions and pain points that come with every stage of life.

Come to the one that best matches your stage of life and financial goals, come to a couple, or join us for all four.

Each panel will feature financial experts and a member of The Ledger’s editorial team as moderator. Light refreshments, beer and wine will be provided.

After the event, attendees can enjoy the museum for free. Doors to each event will open at 5:30 p.m., with the conversation kicking off around 6 p.m.

The series is free, but registration is required. Choose your event, see the full schedule and register for free.

We'd also like to thank banking partner Huntington Bank and supporting partners The Mint Museum and Caregiving Corner for helping make this series possible.

Share this free resource with your kids, grandkids, friends and family! Have a question? Email Ava Mikeal at [email protected].

The Ledger was fortunate to hire three college students as interns this summer — Taylor Douglas (a senior at UNC Charlotte), who served as our social media/audience engagement intern in the first half of the summer; Emily Brietz (a junior at UNC Chapel Hill), our social media/audience engagement intern in the second half of the summer; and Cooper Hall (also a junior at UNC Chapel Hill), our reporting intern.

While internships are, ostensibly, a learning opportunity for those interested in a particular career field, we also learned a lot working with Douglas, Brietz and Hall this summer, and were so grateful to have them as part of our newsroom for several weeks.

For a small team like ours, it’s tough to overstate how much of a difference additional teammates can make, but that difference is especially felt when working with hard-working, talented young journalists like Douglas, Brietz and Hall. Each of them was willing to jump in, try new things, make suggestions — and all give me hope for the news industry’s future. I can’t wait to see what each of them does next.

Brietz and Hall offered some perspective on their time at The Ledger before they parted. Read on for what they had to share about their eight-week stints at The Ledger. —Ashley Fahey

Read Emily’s full account here.

Read Cooper’s full account here.

Events submitted by readers to The Ledger’s events board:

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26: “Latin Music at the Mint - Boleros,” 5:30-8 p.m., at Mint Museum Randolph, 2730 Randolph Rd. Celebrate the timeless beauty of bolero, a Latin music genre that originated in late 19th-century Cuba and is known for its sentimental lyrics and guitar accompaniment. Written and coordinated by Lucila Ruvalcaba, director of ACAL (Asociación Cultural de Artes y Letras de México), the program features songs performed by soprano singer and guitarist Dora Cardona, along with narration highlighting the history of bolero, its composers and anecdotes connected to the music. Free.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 28: “Pilot Provisions: Sushi Workshop,” 7-9 p.m., at Pilot Brewing, 1331 Central Ave., Suite 104. Budding sushi masters will love this hands-on cooking class, designed to bring the art of sushi-making into their home kitchen. Under Chef Tiore’s expert guidance, discover time-honored techniques for preparing perfectly textured sushi rice. Use premium tuna to craft your own spicy tuna rolls, then slice fresh cucumbers and avocado to create a vibrant vegetable roll packed with flavor, no fish required. $65/ticket.

SEPTEMBER 24: “Inside the ACC: The Business Behind the Game,” 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at The Charlotte City Club, 121 West Trade St., 31st floor. Join the Charlotte Economics Club for “Inside the ACC: The Business Behind the Game,” featuring Anthony Macri, Chief Revenue Officer of the Atlantic Coast Conference. As the ACC’s first Chief Revenue Officer, Macri oversees revenue strategy across sponsorships, partnerships, licensing, ticketing, and new business initiatives.  $60 for members. $90 for nonmembers.

➡️ List your event on the Ledger events board.