Not all county transit leaders are in favor of proposed sales tax increases to fund transit agencies’ deficits — at least without other significant county-level reforms.
The San Mateo County Transportation Authority, which helps fund county-specific transportation projects and services, voted May 1 to allocate roughly $150,000 toward polling residents over a possible 2026 transit measure that would dig several Bay Area transit agencies out of their deficits, including BART and Caltrain. The latter is expected to have a $600 million shortfall over the next 10 years. By July 2026, the average annual deficit will be at least $75 million, according to January estimates. State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, co-sponsored Senate Bill 63, which would authorize the transit ballot measure for the 2026 election.
The polling would also gauge county residents’ opinions on extending or increasing Measure A, a half-cent sales tax dedicated to transportation-related services and infrastructure. The measure expires in 2032.
But Jackie Speier, board member and San Mateo County supervisor, said she was not only opposed to the additional polling but is also against the transit measure as it currently stands.
“To spend $150,000 to $200,000 now to poll when the economy is in a tailspin and people’s 401(k)s have dropped, I don’t think you’re going to get accurate information. On top of that it appears this is being rushed to be done [for Senate Bill 63],” Speier said. “For SamTrans to get wrapped up in this regional measure, I don’t think it’s in the best interests of the residents of San Mateo County.”
She added that there are a number of other initiatives the county should prioritize and was also skeptical of a regional measure’s ability to hold other agencies like BART accountable to better operating practices.
Jessica Epstein, director of government and community affairs at SamTrans, said the polling must be completed as soon as possible to line up with the state Legislature’s deadline July 31 to report bills to fiscal committees.
“We’re very, very aware that this is one of the worst times to poll to get people’s opinions on how they’re going to vote in two years,” Epstein said. “What we’re looking at is … do people see that a quarter cent [sales tax] is much better than a half cent, or are they seeing them the same?”
The transit measure speaks to a broader debate about whether the county should go its own way in trying to fix gaping deficits, such as Caltrain’s, or lean on the region instead. Some have proposed doing both, adding a regional measure and Measure A authorization to next year’s ballot — which would still give the county an opportunity to bring the latter back to voters before its 2032 expiration.
Speier said she would only be open to increasing Measure A if funding allocations were significantly more flexible and allowed more money to go to high-priority projects. For instance, millions of dollars from the capital improvement budget could be freed up to narrow critical operating deficits, instead of going toward express lane expansions, such as the Highway 101/State Route 92 connector project, she said.
“[Measure A] is from the 1990s, so setting aside money for highways doesn’t make sense today. I would like to have that money going toward transit issues,” she said.
However, the board voted 4-1 to authorize funding for the ballot measure polling. Noelia Corzo, board member and San Mateo County supervisor, said additional funding is critical for improving transit.
“Raising taxes is not something that anyone ever wants to do,” Corzo said during the board meeting. “But we know that our current funds in Measure A could be negatively impacted if our community sees transit get worse while we’re asking them to renew or to increase Measure A.”
(3) comments
Thank you, Supervisor Speier, for speaking out against wasting more money on widening 101 and the 101/92 Direct Connector project. We needed to be smarter with how we use taxpayer $$$. These projects are expensive and imply lead to more congestion, pollution, and maintenance expense. We should be stabilizing funding for BART and Caltrain to allow them to maintain current service levels.
Voters beware. They use push-pull poles to get the responses they want. You watch. Once the polling is done, they will sheepishly vote to put it on the ballot saying, “let the voters decide”. Once the resolution is passed, they cannot use taxpayer money to promote the measure, but the law allows them to “inform”. Historically the courts cannot distinguish between advocacy and informing. You are right, the fix is in.
I’m betting the poll will include a question that has only answers corresponding to an increase in taxes, say a quarter cent, a half cent, and a full cent, but there won’t be an answer allowing one to answer “no increase.” That way, San Mateo can say the “people” voted for an increase because those are the only options. Paying a polling company to write questions to arrive at a desired answer isn’t cheap. Regardless, vote NO on any and all measures to increase taxes that take more of your hard-earned money from your wallets. Remember, chances are that most, if not all, your money will go towards paying ever increasing wages, pensions, and benefits. Note we never get any news about fiscal management? Because there is none.
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