☆ No more transit bailouts: how to save SCC residents $ (opinions)
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Every parent knows: if your child wastes their allowance, it’s time for better money skills—not a bigger allowance. Yet CA SB 63 proposes we add a half-cent sales tax for bailing out transit agencies like VTA. Perhaps it’s time for fiscal accountability across local gov’t projects. An Opp Now exclusive with Pacific Research Institute’s Tim Anaya and Evergreen Elementary SD’s Jim Zito.
Tim Anaya, Pacific Research Institute marketing and communications vice president: Santa Clara County should think twice about embracing a proposed Bay Area half-cent sales tax to bail out debt-ridden public transportation agencies.
Senate Bill 63 (Wiener and Arreguin) would authorize a November 2026 vote. This is part of an effort to regionalize Bay Area transportation funding decision-making, which would shortchange the Valley and let BART and SF Muni suck in more tax dollars.
The individual tax burden for San Jose residents ranked near the bottom in PRI’s Free Cities Index. Overtaxed residents shouldn’t have to pay higher taxes to subsidize San Francisco’s failing transit agencies.
Jim Zito, Evergreen Elementary School District board member: It basically boils down to lowering taxes and fees. We've got to take the burden off the middle-class taxpayer, who's paying the vast majority of city/county expenses via sales, utility and property taxes, and a number of other fees (including sales and business fees), etc. Or, consider housing: I'm told the reason why the cost of building an ADU in the SCC area is way over $500/sqft is that 20%+ goes to fees, oversight, and additional costs to meet regulations.
Local gov't must also reduce money spent through accountability—accountability from our elected officials (e.g., making their salaries goal driven), contractors, and publicly-funded nonprofits (of which there are hundreds, a number of which aren't successfully meeting their goals, or they don't even have measurable goals). When gov't isn't ensuring they're getting value for every dollar they spend, it all falls back on the middle-class taxpayer, homeowner, or tenant (costs passed down by the landlord).
Our Bay Area is one of the most expensive places to live because electeds are always raising taxes and fees for their many projects. These yearly increases are way higher than the regular cost of living: reconveyance, water, garbage, sewer, etc.
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