Editor,
In a May 14 SMDJ article “Leaders flag concern over long term consequences of tax measure,” it was stated “San Mateo County transit leaders (Ray Mueller, Jackie Speier) are pressing BART over whether the rail agency will be able to achieve fiscal sustainability by the time the 14-year measure (1/2 cent sales tax increase) expires.”
And the Belmont mayor “remains concerned that there aren’t well-articulated plans on how the agency will achieve a significantly better financial position over the next one to two decades.”
Why can’t our leaders show a spine and simply call a spade a spade. There is no BART turnaround plan. BART’s only “plan” is to threaten to close stations unless taxpayers (including the poorest among us) pay up — some might call that extortion. Well I guess you could say it’s a plan.
BART’s ridership cratered over 50%, and it’s not coming back to that level; and BART increased operating expenses 40% in the two years following the 50% drop. They have dug a giant hole and are asking for a large, regressive sales tax increase (whatever happened to the great concern about “affordability?”) to fund more shovels.
So we will see a barrage of ads in support of this tax funded in part by BART, Caltrain and high-speed rail contractors and we won’t hear a lot of truth from our elected leaders. It appears the only way to get BART to actually plan for the future and remain sustainable is for Bay Area voters to reject this sales tax and force BART to come back with a turnaround plan. It’s unfortunate none of our elected leaders has the courage to speak out. Reminds of the old saying — nothing as permanent as a temporary tax.
C.J. Keane
Redwood City
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(4) comments
Thanks for your letter, C.J. We all know any increases will mostly, if not all, go to ever-increasing union salaries, pensions, and benefits. Notice there’s never any talk of fiscal management, only pushes for more of your hard-earned money. People get the government they vote for and unless that changes in these deep blue cities, the best you can do for yourself and your family is to move out of the area to a fiscally managed city or state. If leaving is not an option, another alternative is to patronize and/or establish friend and family networks, where sales taxes are lower (as other contributors have proposed). Those saved taxes will add up quickly, especially if there’s a 3% difference. Let those who vote for higher sales taxes pay them.
Well said. And yes Terence, it is the unions who bribe the elected with campaign contributions - almost like Trump primarying GOP electeds who have a spine. The real problem starts with the MTC and affects all of traditional transit. For a fuller analysis start here: https://shiftbayarea.substack.com/p/the-real-bay-area-transit-doomsday
Are you trying to insinuate that the unions don’t control the state of California? Hopefully not because if you are, that proves your ignorance and your ideology. Your link only talks about doomsday if the freebies are discontinued. Perhaps the people who receive these freebies should start working. And yes, there are some people who genuinely need help, but in general as we have found in California, and Minnesota, with our Somalia, visitors, that there are extreme misguided individuals who game our system
Interesting analogy, gadiequez, between union bribes and Trump primarying selfish GOP electeds. But one that doesn’t hold up under minor scrutiny or common sense. Union bribes (your word) result in officials attempting to transfer more hard-earned taxpayer money to union workers, doing nothing to help non-union Californians. Trump primarying those who don’t want to make America great again helps all Americans. Essentially, if you’re a TDS-Democrat/RINO, you’re not for America First. As such, I’m happy to see Trump or anyone else primary out all those who hate Trump more than they love America.
The link (I’m assuming you wrote the article) talks about a larger capital burden in the future but this burden can easily be addressed by canceling or reducing the scope and number of planned capital projects. Easy peasy. The ongoing problem is where the majority of current operating costs are being spent. Spoiler alert…To ever-increasing union salaries, pensions, and benefits. What is the percentage of employee compensation to operating costs for each transit agency? Where is fiscal management to lower these operating costs? Are there any?
Remember, these transit agencies operated during COVID and even now at 100% capacity with 50% or less ridership. The issue is not potential (keyword, potential) capital projects that we can easily eliminate. The issue is actual (keyword, actual) existing and ever-increasing costs we can eliminate. Until transit agencies do their fair share to reduce costs, vote NO on any proposed taxes that transfer your money to union workers. If stations are closed, no big deal. If service is cut – perfect, since service should have been cut years ago to reflect ridership. We have 50% less ridership than before, so riders will not suffer – they’ll adapt.
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.