SamTrans weighs spending on sales tax funds

The ballot measure has been touted as a critical lifeline for major transit agencies, such as Caltrain and BART, which are facing $75 million and over $350 million annual deficits, respectively.

Last week, the BART Board of Directors laid out a tentative plan if the measure doesn’t pass, which included 15 station closures, including most in San Mateo County, over the next couple years.

If the ballot measure does pass, Caltrain would receive roughly $75 million per year to close its annual deficit, with few funds, if any, going toward other infrastructure projects or expanded services.

“We don't anticipate it being used for anything other than operating funds for us,” Jason Baker, director of government affairs at Caltrain, said.

About $50 million in SB 63 funding is estimated to go to SamTrans. Unlike Caltrain and BART, SamTrans bus ridership is essentially back to pre-pandemic levels, however, it still faces a nearly $30 million average annual operating deficit starting in fiscal year 2028. However, the funds for the bus agency are more flexible and could go toward capital improvement projects or pilot programs to test out or improve different services.

“We’re going to be spending next couple months on an expenditure plan. … By June, it will be up to the board, weighing all the different feedback, of how much will go to operations and how much would go to other projects,” Jessica Epstein, director of government affairs at SamTrans, said. “There is not a required amount of operations funding to go to SamTrans.”

SamTrans voted to opt the county into the measure in August, yet several San Mateo County leaders, including Jackie Speier, SamTrans board member and San Mateo County supervisor, and Assemblymember Diane Papan, D-San Mateo, have been critical of the bill, especially some of its accountability provisions. During a recent SamTrans board meeting, Speier also criticized the potential use of funds on any thing other than the operating deficit.

“There is a bait and switch element to this. It's going to the ballot because we're looking at a deficit in terms of funding,” Speier said. “[We’re] creating an expectation in the public that this money is going to be used for X, Y and Z when, frankly, the money's got to be used to close the hole that we have in the budget unless we're gonna make massive cuts.”

The discussion is still in the early stages, with board members also hoping to weigh the balance between closing the deficit and developing initiatives that could eventually lead to increased ridership. The discussion also comes after recent talks about hiring pauses for new full-time employees, reducing or freezing wage increases or even future service reductions.

“Making sure that we are covering our projected deficit is the most important thing. I wonder how that's going to poll versus some of the other things,” Board Member Josh Powell said. “So there is the practical [component] versus what will pass.”