Sacramento’s $8 billion transportation sales tax hike now one step from November ballot

A proposed half-cent sales tax measure for transportation improvements is now one step from the November ballot in Sacramento County.

The Sacramento Transportation Authority board voted 11-5 on Thursday to endorse the proposed ballot measure, which is expected to generate $8 billion over the course of 40 years for road repair, road and highway construction, transit improvements, and bicycle and pedestrian facilities.

The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors will take the measure up next in July, voting to formally put the tax, called Measure A, on the ballot. That board vote is considered “ministerial.” Four of the five supervisors support putting the measure on the ballot. A fifth, Sue Frost, opposes it.

The STA has been preparing the measure for more than a year, vetting it with community groups and more recently with seven city councils in the county, getting their OKs. Some revenue would be distributed to those cities, some used for larger work that affects a broader area of the county.

Frost said she believes the measure will not get the necessary two-thirds supermajority of “yes” votes on the November ballot, especially now given the economic uncertainty and losses county residents are feeling during the coronavirus pandemic. The county currently has a half-cent sales tax measure in place, which would overlap for a number of years with the new tax, if it is approved by voters.

“It makes us look heartless during this time when everyone is going through so much,” she said.

Elk Grove City Councilman Patrick Hume, Rancho Cordova Vice Mayor Garrett Gatewood, Citrus Heights Councilman Steve Miller and Galt Mayor Paul Sandhu, all STA board members, joined Frost in opposition to putting it on the ballot.

STA board members supporting it included Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg; STA chair and Elk Grove City Councilman Darren Suen; Sacramento Councilmen Eric Guerra, Steve Hansen, Jeff Harris and Jay Schenirer; county Supervisors Don Nottoli, Phil Serna, Susan Peters and Patrick Kennedy; and Folsom City Councilwoman Kerri Howell.

Suen and others said they see the ballot measure as an opportunity to create a locally controlled jobs and economic stimulus package to counteract the damage from the coronavirus.

“We have the chance to put something to the voters that ... we control, that stays local, that can leverage state and federal dollars, and that we can pull forward to implement projects right away,” he said. “I can’t think of better way to inject ... to get jobs and get people to work immediately.”

Steinberg, Nottoli and several others at Thursday’s meeting agreed, saying voters deserve to have the chance to say “yes” or “no” on the proposal.

A poll of voters late last year found that a majority of voters supported the concept, but not enough to hit the 67-percent threshold. STA officials said that although the proposal will now go to the Board of Supervisors for a vote to place it on the ballot, the STA still could pull the proposal back this summer if the STA board changes its mind.

This story was originally published May 14, 2020 at 6:38 PM.