Plan to increase Sacramento County’s transportation sales tax may be abandoned. Here’s why

Sacramento transportation officials are suggesting dropping plans for a November $8 billion tax increase ballot measure, saying the public just doesn’t appear to be in the mood to tax itself.

A voter poll taken last week shows that it will be very difficult to persuade the necessary super-majority of voters to approve a 1/2-cent sales tax increase to pay for road, transit and other transportation improvements in Sacramento County, officials said.

The proposed ballot initiative, called Measure A, would last for 40 years and has been counted on by transportation and transit representatives in the county and its cities to help fund what they say are needed mobility improvements as the county grows.

But the economic and psychological shock of the coronavirus pandemic and the social upheaval from recent police protests appear to have reduced the voting public’s willingness to take on the additional estimated $80 a year the tax would cost people.

The Sacramento Transportation Authority board will hold a special meeting on Wednesday, July 15, to decide whether to go forward with the tax plan, or to follow a staff recommendation to shelve the plan.

The poll found that a majority of voters would support the tax, but not enough to reach the 67 percent super majority required to pass it.

The tax supporters were attempting to position the program as an economic development tool during the COVID-19 crisis, adding thousands of infrastructure jobs as well as improving mobility in the county. Voters in the poll responded positively to that, but not in high enough numbers.

“The economy took a deep dive in the spring and beginning in late May we experienced a significant amount of political unrest which ... as a result of unresolved social justice issues,” STA Executive Director Will Kempton wrote in a memo to the board. “These events have taken a negative toll on the overall public mood, and combined, they have contributed to an atmosphere of uncertainty.

“The poll shows that the measure is not viable with the current level of support and even with a strong program of public education and outreach to boost the support, the effort may be insufficient given the changing economic and social climate.”

This story was originally published July 10, 2020 at 9:10 AM.