County transit officials approved a 30-year plan last week that they openly acknowledged was “less than perfect.” Next up: figuring out how to pay for it.
The Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is billions short of what it needs to build the projects called for under the plan, including a BART extension to downtown San Jose, a new light rail line to East San Jose and a series of Caltrain upgrades.
Officials had hoped county Measure A, a proposed half-cent sales tax on the June ballot, would help make up the shortfall. But voters soundly rejected it, in part because of concerns about the cost and feasibility of BART.
“We don’t have all of the answers,” said Forrest Williams, a VTA board member and San Jose City Council member, “But we have individuals here who are capable of coming up with creative ways of funding programs.”
VTA general manager Michael Burns said that the 20 percent funding shortfall is similar to what the agency faced when sales tax revenues declined following the passage of 1996 Measures A and B, a recently expired half-cent sales tax.
The agency was able to deliver most of the projects voters approved under that measure, including the new interchange at Highways 85 and 101, and Burns said he was optimistic that partnerships with developers and additional funding from the state would help bridge the gap again.
But under aggressive questioning from Mountain View Vice Mayor Greg Perry, Burns admitted that of all the potential funding sources, only a new sales tax will even come close to generating enough revenue.
“It’s a very inconvenient question where that $3 billion comes from,” Perry told the Voice. “There’s no question that they’ll need one if not two more sales taxes to finish it.”
Perry said that without a new tax, the VTA will eventually have to cut the project list or face bankruptcy. In the meantime, he wants the agency to stop spending money designing the BART project until it has enough money lined up to pay for it.
In addition to BART and light rail extensions, the plan also includes nearly $1 billion in operational subsidies for bus and light rail service throughout the county, and $370 million for a “pavement management fund” to supplement city coffers.
Los Altos Hill Mayor Breene Kerr said he was concerned that the plan does not have enough funding for Caltrain improvements — including electrification of the system and grade-separated railroad crossings all along the route, two prerequisites for increased train service. A grade separation project at Rengstorff Avenue is estimated to cost around $60 million.
Perry proposed transferring the pothole repair money to Caltrain improvements. But Cupertino City Council Member Dolly Sandoval said the agency should keep the pothole fund “in the interest of fairness” to the suburbs in the western part of the county, and the proposal failed.
E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com
Mountain View moves forward with $4.6M plan to fix eroded banks at Stevens CreekMay 5, 2026 11:19 am
