CHARLOTTE, NC — Last month, a Charlotte driver says a car came to a sudden stop in front of him. He was able to hit the brakes in time, but the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer behind him was not.
"He didn’t see the car stop," said the driver, who asked us not to use his name. "It was an accident. It was not anything he meant to do on purpose."
But, the driver's car is a total loss. The city is now offering him $13,000 to pay off the car and another $6,000 for medical bills - all taxpayer dollars.
It's a big sum, but the driver told us he's stuck in a rental until he can afford a down payment on a new car. The city won't cover that.
"It’s not like I am trying to rob the city. I am not trying to take the city for everything. I just want to be compensated fairly," he said.
His story is not unique. Records obtained by Channel 9 show, in the 2017 fiscal year, the city paid more than $779,000 in similar cases where its vehicles/employees were responsible for crashes.
That includes more than $53,000 paid after a CATS special transport bus made an improper lane change and crashed.
More than $34,000 was paid after a CMPD cruiser rear-ended another vehicle, and the city made a nearly $30,000 payment after a utilities truck failed to yield.
"When you brought it to my attention I had some conversations internally," said City Councilman Tariq Bokhari, (R) District 6.
He says with a city Charlotte’s size, a $2.4 billion budget, and so many city vehicles on the roads, it’s not unusual for these things to happen. The important thing is that leaders remember the money used for payouts isn’t theirs.
"We need to be fair to those we have responsibility towards, but we also need to recognize to be fair we are paying it with taxpayer dollars," he offered.
Charlotte’s payment of more than $779,000 in the 2017 fiscal year is up 21 percent from 2016 when it paid out more than $642,000. The 2018 numbers won’t be out for a few months.
The City of Charlotte says its budget is set in anticipation of paying claims. Leaders use an actuary to evaluate how much money should be set aside for payments each year.