Tagged: Carolina Panthers

  RALEIGH Two Republican lawmakers say any effort to raise Charlotte’s prepared food tax to help upgrade Bank of America Stadium would require a vote by the public.

  While the Carolina Panthers are in talks to upgrade their stadium, they also need to figure out who will play in it next season. The team is more than $10 million over next year’s league-wide salary cap. That means dropping expensive players and reworking contracts to get below the cap by March 12.

  The city’s plan to contribute $125 million toward renovating Bank of America stadium started with a letter Mayor Anthony Foxx sent to the team last September, Carolina Panthers president Danny Morrison said Monday.

During the past year, the football team had commissioned studies on possible renovations to the 17-year-old stadium. The city had been part of some meetings with the Panthers, but had received no request for aid.

Charlotte Mecklenburg Police have shut down a major dog fighting ring in East Charlotte. On Friday, officers raided a house on Carelock Circle off Albemarle Road after neighbors complained about barking. They found pit bulls on chains as well as items used to train fighting dogs.

The Carolina Panthers say their 17- year old stadium needs an upgrade and they want taxpayers to pitch in. City of Charlotte officials are busy negotiating behind closed doors to come up with as much as half of the $250 million renovation.  They're reportedly looking at doubling the city's tax on prepared foods, such as meals in restaurants. That's not the only local tax Charlotte has used to fund big projects in the past. We asked WFAE's Julie Rose to sort out the sales taxes Charlotte has access to, as this debate over upgrading Bank of America stadium unfolds.