Measure A on Sacramento County ballots would raise sales tax for roads. Here’s a pro and con

Sacramento County voters will see Measure A on their November election ballot. It would increase the county’s sales tax by one-half of 1 percent to raise money for road improvements.

How does Measure A read on the ballot?

To fix potholes and repair damaged streets; provide safe routes to school; expand affordable senior and disabled transit services; eliminate bottlenecks and improve emergency response times; reduce traffic congestion; and improve air quality; Shall the measure approving the Sacramento County Transportation, Maintenance, Safety and Congestion Relief Act of 2022 - Retail Transactions and Use Tax Initiative, including a 40-year 0.5% sales tax raising an estimated $212,512,500 annually for transportation and transit projects, be adopted?

▪ Read the impartial analysis prepared by the county’s election office

Yes on Measure A

By Yes on Measure A - Committee for a Better Sacramento, sponsored by labor and construction organizations

Sacramento County’s roads, bridges and transit system are deteriorating. For too long, residents have been subjected to ever-worsening traffic congestion, polluting vehicle emissions, unsafe conditions and costly repairs caused by potholes and decaying streets.

Voters can take action to fix our broken transportation infrastructure by approving Measure A on the November ballot.

Measure A will raise $8.5 billion over 40 years to invest in long-neglected transportation improvements. It is a Fix-it-First blueprint for the Sacramento region, the result of a citizens’ initiative to make the county-wide transportation improvements residents have been demanding. Measure A is supported by a growing coalition that includes the California Alliance for Jobs, the California State Council of Laborers and the Sacramento Region Business Association, among others.

Every neighborhood will benefit from smoother, safer roads and more efficient traffic flows that will cut our commute times.

Measure A puts the highest priority on fixing potholes and repaving deteriorating streets and roads. But it does much more, by also prioritizing:

▪ Safer streets, intersections and routes to school

▪ American River Parkway safety, maintenance and preservation

▪ Bike and pedestrian improvements throughout the region

▪ Senior and disabled transportation improvements and reduced fares

▪ Congestion relief and freeway interchange modernization

▪ A new south-county expressway connecting Highways 50, 99 and Interstate 5 to reduce congestion and shorten travel times between Folsom and Elk Grove.

▪ Extension of Light Rail to the Airport

▪ Improvements to major commute routes through our neighborhoods

▪ Critical steps to improve air quality and fight climate change

▪ Bus/light rail safety and service improvements

▪ Creation of over 3,000 good-paying jobs

Measure A protects taxpayers by creating a citizen oversight committee, audits and annual public reports to ensure that politicians can’t steal your Measure A funding. Administration expenses are limited to no more than 1% of revenues.

And Measure A will provide the local financial match to assure we get hundreds of millions of additional state and federal dollars to fix our roads and upgrade local transit. The ballot initiative requires projects to comply with state and federal environmental laws and expressly requires projects to mitigate their greenhouse gas impacts to meet regional greenhouse gas reduction goals.

A formal agreement between Sacramento Transportation Authority and Sacramento Area Council of Governments ensures regional coordination and compliance with these provisions.

Measure A includes projects that will finally address needed river crossings:

▪ Replacing the 111-year-old I Street Bridge across the Sacramento River.

▪ Supporting planning for a new American River Bridge from downtown Sacramento to South Natomas.

“It’s time for voters to make their voices heard,” says Michael Quigley, Measure A Campaign Co-Chair and Executive Director of the California Alliance for Jobs. “Our decaying transportation infrastructure has been allowed to steadily worsen. We continue to face increasing commute times, worsening congestion and declining air quality. To improve our local economy and quality of life we must have a safe, reliable and fully funded transportation system. Measure A will enable Sacramento County to accomplish this goal.”

We urge Sacramentans to vote Yes on Measure A.

No on Measure A

By Measure A, Not OK, a coalition of environmental, taxpayer, and transit rider organizations

Measure A would raise taxes in Sacramento County by $8.5 billion, doubling the countywide transportation tax and making gasoline even more expensive. The misleading measure is bought by special interests and fails to deliver on its basic promises. Environmental, taxpayer, transit riders, and other groups all oppose the measure.

Measure A is a special interest power-grab

Measure A is bankrolled by wealthy special interests like the Cordova Hills Development Corporation that want taxpayers to pay hundreds of millions of dollars for roads that will benefit their development projects. Developers should pay these costs, not taxpayers.

Measure A imposes an unfair tax when inflation is already crushing Sacramento residents

This new sales tax will increase the cost of nearly every consumer good, and will hit lower and middle income individuals hardest. We have higher priorities for our tax dollars than subsidizing wealthy developers. We need more affordable housing and we need to reduce homelessness.

Measure A funds traffic-inducing sprawl & air pollution

The measure prioritizes investments that increase sprawl and traffic, undermining decades of land use and transportation planning. New freeways in isolated areas destroy natural and rural land, bring in more cars and traffic, worsen air quality, and create new infrastructure costs and maintenance. Measure A projects will also damage the American River Parkway. That’s why the Sierra Club and Save the American River Association both urge No on A.

Measure A means climate failure

If the anticipated road projects are built, analysis indicates the region will fail state-mandated climate targets, threatening our region’s livability in the face of rising heat and wildfires. Because the measure sets up our region to fail these targets, we stand to lose eligibility for billions of dollars in critical state and federal transportation and affordable housing grants.

Measure A is inequitable

The measure dedicates hundreds of millions for special interest road projects, while only committing 3% of funds for transportation for seniors and the disabled. It also fails to prioritize investments in historically underserved communities.

Measure A hurts human health

Sacramento consistently ranks as one of the ten worst regions for air quality nationally. More roads and freeways are just more sources of air pollution. In other words, more kids with asthma, more people with heart and lung problems. Yet only 2% of measure funds go towards monitoring air quality.

JOIN US IN VOTING NO ON MEASURE A.