☆ Why a general, er, “public health” sales tax if Santa Clara County already has enough money? (4/4)
Part of the $2.65 billion SC County collected from property taxes last year is going to spend $13 million on November’s special election. So says SVTA Board Member Elizabeth Brierly, who argues Measure A has no meaningful oversight, likely won’t sunset, and voters will see little in return. An Opp Now exclusive Q&A.
Opportunity Now: If Measure A doesn’t pass, is there a risk that people will lose their jobs?
Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association: In fiscal year 2024, there were approximately 20 Santa Clara County employees that made over, or near, $1 million. That’s a lot of money. Most people would argue that this compensation is too much for working in government. Some of these county employees are making more than the US President and the California governor's salaries combined.
ON: So their jobs might be in jeopardy if the sales tax doesn’t pass?
SVTA: What's happening is the county's able to avoid laying anyone off because it has vacant positions that it keeps on the books, and then when it closes those vacant positions, it doesn't result in an actual layoff. It's just limiting the amount of vacancy.
ON: So, Measure A is proposing a $1.65 billion tax over 5 years. Do you think Santa Clara County residents feel overtaxed as it is?
SVTA: The county already has enough money. Last year it collected $2.65 billion in property taxes that it can spend on anything. By the way, that’s how this special election was paid for, which is costing $13 million.
Homeowners pay several hundred dollars a year on a $950 million subsidized housing bond, which will end up costing $2 billion when you look at the bond financing cost, as well as an $840 million bond for Santa Clara Valley Medical Center hospital, which will also cost about $2 billion.
Then there's these other districts, like a special assessment every year for the county parks and another for county libraries, which was supposed to be a one-time thing but has been extended four times. Then there's an assessment for vector control. (This is a very specific use people support since it is based on health and safety by controlling mosquitoes and rats).
But then there's a tax assessment that is the only one in existence in the state of California. The other 57 counties don't have it. It’s called a PERS Levy, Public Employee Retirement System Levy. And this is a separate tax assessment on property, and it raises $300 million a year to pay a portion of county employee pensions. This has raised multiple billions of dollars since inception. By the way, you will not find this in the County’s Annual Consolidated Financial Report (ACFR).
The county has a lot of money.
And how many countywide sales taxes have already been placed on residents of Santa Clara County? The answer is six. Not to mention additional sales taxes put on by individual cities.
ON: And counting…
SVTA: Right, because they’ve already determined that in 2026, they’re going to go for a half-cent sales tax increase which would be the eighth sales tax countywide.
ON: What are taxpayers getting in return?
SVTA: That’s the problem, because let's say there's a city that's really in need of a tax increase because its citizens want police, fire, parks, libraries, paved roads: municipal services that are more tangible than county social welfare services.
These countywide taxes will have sucked up all the potential goodwill for any of the 15 cities to raise taxes. The county is like a bully to the cities, because the cities won't have the ability to raise revenue to avoid layoffs.
ON: They say the Measure A sales tax will sunset in five years. What’s the likelihood it will get extended?
SVTA: I have never seen a tax sunset with the county.
ON: So it’s effectively permanent?
SVTA: It will be like other taxes, where they will be able to say ‘hey, this isn’t a tax increase. We’re just continuing the same tax rate.’
ON: The ballot measure talks about oversight for the funds. What does that actually mean? It’s not like an oversight committee could suspend a tax if it’s not being spent properly?
SVTA: They were supposed to put an oversight committee on this thing, but now they’re going to do it after the election. But if you look at their oversight group for the subsidized housing tax, the people on the oversight committee were trade unions and affordable-housing developers. At this point, there's never even one dissenting view on those oversight committees, there’s no critical eye, and the Silicon Valley Taxpayer Association has never been invited by the county.
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