Editor,
In a May 14 SMDJ article “Leaders flag concern over long term consequences of tax measure,” it was stated “San Mateo County transit leaders (Ray Mueller, Jackie Speier) are pressing BART over whether the rail agency will be able to achieve fiscal sustainability by the time the 14-year measure (1/2 cent sales tax increase) expires.”
And the Belmont mayor “remains concerned that there aren’t well-articulated plans on how the agency will achieve a significantly better financial position over the next one to two decades.”
Why can’t our leaders show a spine and simply call a spade a spade. There is no BART turnaround plan. BART’s only “plan” is to threaten to close stations unless taxpayers (including the poorest among us) pay up — some might call that extortion. Well I guess you could say it’s a plan.
BART’s ridership cratered over 50%, and it’s not coming back to that level; and BART increased operating expenses 40% in the two years following the 50% drop. They have dug a giant hole and are asking for a large, regressive sales tax increase (whatever happened to the great concern about “affordability?”) to fund more shovels.
So we will see a barrage of ads in support of this tax funded in part by BART, Caltrain and high-speed rail contractors and we won’t hear a lot of truth from our elected leaders. It appears the only way to get BART to actually plan for the future and remain sustainable is for Bay Area voters to reject this sales tax and force BART to come back with a turnaround plan. It’s unfortunate none of our elected leaders has the courage to speak out. Reminds of the old saying — nothing as permanent as a temporary tax.
C.J. Keane
Redwood City
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(1) comment
Thanks for your letter, C.J. We all know any increases will mostly, if not all, go to ever-increasing union salaries, pensions, and benefits. Notice there’s never any talk of fiscal management, only pushes for more of your hard-earned money. People get the government they vote for and unless that changes in these deep blue cities, the best you can do for yourself and your family is to move out of the area to a fiscally managed city or state. If leaving is not an option, another alternative is to patronize and/or establish friend and family networks, where sales taxes are lower (as other contributors have proposed). Those saved taxes will add up quickly, especially if there’s a 3% difference. Let those who vote for higher sales taxes pay them.
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