VTA wants sales tax increase VTA wants sales tax increase (August 20, 2004)

Half-cent measure could be on Nov. 2006 ballot

By Jon Wiener

It has been nearly four years since voters approved a county-wide sales tax increase to bring BART to San Jose, among other projects. But the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) recently said the funds from the half-cent sales tax will not even be enough to sustain pre-2000 service levels for buses and light rail, let alone BART.

"Without a new revenue stream, we can't do everything," VTA general manager Peter Cipolla told the board of directors at a workshop Aug. 13. Their choice, he said, is either to ask voters to approve another 0.5-percent (or half-cent) sales tax increase in 2006 or reduce service by 20 to 25 percent.

The VTA workshop took place on the same day the agency issued its response to a stinging civil grand jury report. The grand jury's report, originally released in June, criticized the VTA board as too large and parochial to effectively govern county transit issues. Elected officials and members of the transit-riding public have echoed the report's call for the agency to rethink its plan for BART.

"If we were to ask the voters right now (to pass a tax increase), they'd probably say no," said Joe Pirzynski, a board member from Los Gatos. "It fulfills what we said we're going to do, and it asks the voters, 'Is this what you want?'"

Measure A, the 2000 ballot measure that authorized BART-to-San-Jose as well as the Downtown-East Valley light rail extension, will not take effect until 2006. But projections already show declining economic activity will mean the measure will raise $1 billion less than the nearly $6 billion originally expected, according to VTA spokesperson Anne-Catherine Vinickas.

A permanent half-cent sales tax in place since 1976 nets VTA an additional $137 million a year, but that too represents a decrease from previous years, she said.

Few of the 12 board members seemed willing to concede defeat to tough economic times.

"BART was overwhelmingly the issue that passed Measure A," said San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales, who has long been a leading advocate for BART-to-San-Jose.

Potential options could include building the extension in phases, delaying it or scrapping it altogether, though VTA staff and board members have been adamant that those are all undesirable. "I think the voters spoke very overwhelmingly that they wanted a comprehensive system," said Gonzales.

Word of the potential increase drew some raised eyebrows from passengers at the downtown Mountain View transit center this week.

"Will they promise to give it back if the sales tax base increases?" asked Bill Sethares, a San Jose resident who works at NASA Ames. Despite his doubt, Sethares said he would probably vote for the sales tax.

"We subsidize Caltrain, cars and the trucking industry by building roads, the airline industry by building airports. VTA's just one of those things," said Sethares.

The VTA board of directors will most likely decide whether to put the sales tax measure on the ballot at its Sept. 2 board meeting, according to Vinickas.

E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com

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