Bay City News
After nearly two hours of public testimony, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 Tuesday to place a half-cent sales tax measure on the June 6 ballot that, if passed, would increase the county’s sales tax rate from 8.25 percent to 8.75 percent.
Such an increase would place Santa Clara County in the same league as Alameda County and Richmond, the only other Bay Area jurisdictions that tax goods at that rate.
The tax is to be used for general county purposes, but there is speculation that some of the money will go toward a BART extension to Silicon Valley.
Supervisor Donald Gage, who supported the measure, said today he found himself agreeing with people he never thought he would. “I hope that you still trust us to manage your dollars in a responsible way,” he said to members of the public attending Tuesday night’s meeting.
Liberal Democratic Supervisor Blanca Alvarado agreed with those opposing a tax increase and represented the sole dissenting vote on the board.
“I cannot support the half-cent sales tax because it is the VTA’s obligation to deal with transportation in this county,” Alvarado said, addressing concerns raised among attendees that the supervisors had struck a back-room deal to bail out the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s dragging BART extension project.
“In the last six to eight weeks, the half-cent sales tax [issue] has been raised, and it is very coincidental that all of a sudden we put transportation in the mix,” Alvarado added.
The other supervisors vehemently denied giving VTA a wink and a nod while moving forward with a seemingly general-purpose tax initiative.
“I heard no deal has been struck by any of the board members and if there is one, I’d like to hear about it,” said Supervisor Liz Kniss.
Addressing concerns that there is a secret list of priorities the money will be used for, County Executive Pete Kutras emphasized, “There is no list. There is no deal. It is going to be done by this board in this room as it’s been done before.”
Kniss added, however, that transportation remains an important issue for the county and said, “To say we don’t have our finger in transportation would be erroneous.”
The county estimates that the half-cent sales tax could generate between $154 million and $170 million for the county in fiscal year 2008, Kutras said. If approved, the tax would take effect Oct. 1.
Attendees expressed both criticism and praise over the sales tax plan, some urging the county supervisors to support the initiative but to clarify which projects would retain the revenue. Favored services included hospitals and clinics, trauma and emergency centers, affordable housing services, prevention programs for at-risk youth, children and families, and transportation projects.
Others opposed any sales tax increase, calling it “regressive” and noting that taxes in Santa Clara County are already higher than elsewhere.
San Jose resident Johnny Khamis argued that all expenses in his life have surged lately, including his utility bills, his car insurance, his property taxes and the cost of gas.
“This is a regressive sales tax and this is going to hurt working-class people,” Khamis said.
Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, executive officer for the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council, disagreed, noting that working-class, poor and sick people would benefit the most from county support.
“For me, it is simple,” she said. “There are people who won’t have an opportunity to go to a doctor … without support and a social network for health care costs. For those of us who live in the real world, we have to figure out a way to get services to our people.”
Some attendees also requested that a sunset clause be added to set an expiration date for the tax. In a last minute pledge, Supervisor Pete McHugh asked the county counsel to add language postulating a sunset clause of 30 years to the measure.
“If you feel this is important and you trust us to spend the money, we are going to give you the opportunity,” Kniss said.
