If approved in June, tax would raise county sales tax to 8.75
percent
– highest in Bay Area
San Jose – Santa Clara County Supervisors voted to place a half-cent sales tax on the June ballot and tried to quell fears that the measure is an end-run around voters to get money to extend BART to San Jose.
“You have to trust us,” Supervisor Don Gage said. “We’re putting that money in our general fund and we will have the money to spend it as we see fit.”
The tax would raise the county sales tax to 8.75 percent, the highest in the Bay Area, and add $125 to $25,000 in purchases. If it passes, it will raise about $163 million a year for county services ranging from healthcare and social services to public safety and transportation.
The tax ends the possibility of a tax measure from the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, which intended to go to voters for more money for the $4.7 billion BART project and other road and transit projects.
Instead, the VTA and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, a lobbying outfit that has financed previous transportation sales tax campaigns, will support the county tax, which could be used for road and transit improvements, a development that raised fears that the county has struck a backroom to deal to funnel money to the VTA.
The county tax will pass with a majority vote, but VTA tax would have required a two-thirds majority. Recent polls predicted that the county tax would pass while the VTA tax would fall several points shy of approval.
Supervisor Blanca Alvarado was the lone vote against the new tax. She said the county should have tried for a quarter-cent increase for social services and left transportation to the VTA.
“There’s an underlying feeling out there that this proposal is a way to circumvent the two-thirds vote requirement,” Alvarado said. “It becomes quite deceptive if we don’t tell it like it really is … and take our chances that voters will accept that more money is needed for transportation.”
Dozens of county residents addressed the supervisors during the special evening meeting, with many urging the board to place the tax on the ballot.
The measure’s broad appeal – it promises funding for a host of social service programs – was reflected in the wide array of interest groups that spoke on its behalf. Representatives of labor, religious and environmental groups joined members of trade unions and companies that could benefit from new transportation projects in urging supervisors to put the measure on the ballot.
“I wish I had the lives of people with insurance cards in their pockets and cars to drive them places,” said Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins of the South Bay AFL-CIO. “For those of us who live in the real world, we need real world solutions.”
Opposition came from anti-tax groups and transportation advocacy groups opposed to the BART project. Doug McNae, president of the Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association called the measure a “bait and switch” tax, or B.S. in shorthand.
“When voters catch wind of the B.S. in this measure, they will turn up their noses,” said McNae. “If you need a quarter-cent for the county, drop transportation [from the measure].”
But Alvarado’s colleagues argued that transportation is critical to support the economy and deliver the county’s social services. Supervisor Liz Kniss, a vocal opponent of the BART project, compared the new tax to Measure A/B, a half-cent sales tax passed in 1996.
Measure A/B has funded road improvements up and down the county, including improvements to Highway 85 and Pacheco Pass. The new stoplight in front of Gilroy Foods is a Measure A/B project. Kniss said she would support using tax money to improve county roads and expressways.
“I have to tell you there is no deal struck with me,” she said. “Transportation has become a dirty word tonight and I don’t know why. Transportation is not a four-letter word.”
The county is facing a budget deficit of $120.6 million for the fiscal year that begins July 1, but the deficit could drop significantly the following year, to about $55 million. In the last four years, the county has cut a total of $638 million from its budget and made $273 million worth of reductions in various departments.
County Executive Pete Kutras said the deficits may get worse because funding from state and federal sources is shrinking. About 62 percent of the county’s general fund budget comes from those sources.
“We really believe we’re at this juncture because we have no other options,” Kutras said. “This is our only way of self-help.”
What It Will Do
The half-cent sales tax approved by county supervisors Tuesday night will have a
30-year expiration and promises funds for:
– County hospitals and clinics
– Trauma and emergency services
– Affordable housing
– Health insurance for children
– Prevention programs for at-risk youth, families and seniors
– Transportation improvements
