Sacramento County sales tax hike to fund transportation projects trails in early returns

Measure A, a proposed sales tax increase in Sacramento County that would fund a new suburban expressway, an expansion of the light rail system and new bridges, was trailing in early returns Tuesday night.

The measure trailed 52% to 47% in a 10 p.m. update from Sacramento County election officials. It needs a simple majority to pass.

Supporters of the measure said the tax would raise an estimated $8.5 billion over the next 40 years, funding much-needed improvements to Sacramento’s transportation networks as the population grows and commutes worsen. Measure A would increase the sales tax throughout the county by one half of 1%.

“There’s an important need, as we address climate change, to upgrade our transportation network to meet the needs of future generations,” Michael Quigley, executive director of the California Alliance for Jobs and a co-chair of the tax measure campaign, said earlier this year.

The measure’s opponents described it as a dangerous funding mechanism that would encourage suburban sprawl and cause irreparable damage to the environment by adding thousands of automobiles to the region’s roads. They also noted that the measure’s campaign was bankrolled largely by developers and construction unions that would benefit from projects funded by the tax increase.

“It’s sponsored and bankrolled by special interests that want to use tax dollars to build a new expressway that will enable them to profit by developing the land, paving the way for decades of sprawl and inequity and exacerbating climate change,” said Anne Stausboll, who chaired the Mayors’ Commission on Climate Change for the cities of Sacramento and West Sacramento.

The campaign behind the measure had raised roughly $3 million as of last week, a remarkable total for a local campaign. The opposition campaign, meanwhile, had not reported any donations to Sacramento County election officials. Opponents of the measure included the Sacramento Taxpayers Association, the Sierra Club, and pedestrian and transit rider advocacy groups.

Many local elected officials lined up behind the measure, including Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen, whose city has some of the worst commutes in Northern California. Measure A would help fund the Capital Southeast Connector, an expressway under construction linking Elk Grove and the Folsom area.

Measure A would also help fund an extension of the light rail system to Sacramento International Airport and Elk Grove, a new bridge over the Sacramento River, revamped freeway interchanges and a bus rapid transit network on some of the county’s most clogged commercial corridors. Every local government in the county would receive funding, and an estimated $2 billion would go to Sacramento Regional Transit.

This story was originally published November 8, 2022 at 8:18 PM.