Taxes Archives - TRANSDEF

State fails to adequately address transit fiscal cliff

July 9, 2023 July 9, 2023

Terrifying tales of transit agency layoffs and service cuts, known as the fiscal cliff, loom as the consequences of the pandemic and the drop in ridership from the shift to working at home. The Legislature and Governor have responded to the frantic lobbying by kicking the can down the road. The East Bay Times responded with a powerful editorial, Why Newsom’s Bay Area transit bailout will likely fail. Excerpts: Rather than directly address these problems, the new bailout plan from Sacramento doubles down on an oversight commission [MTC] that has failed since its establishment in 1970 to fulfill its state-mandated…

Funding Sources for Transit Agencies

June 10, 2021 June 10, 2021

MTC recently produced this highly informative chart:

RM3 now before CA Supreme Court–Update 1

October 16, 2020 November 21, 2020

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA) filed a Petition for Review with the California Supreme Court in August 2020. The Petition asserts that prior to Proposition 26, a clear body of law differentiated between taxes and fees. Whereas the Proposition was enacted to close several loopholes, the Court of Appeal decision opened up a brand-new huge loophole that would allow any fee for access to public property to be imposed without a two-thirds vote. In addition, the Petition points out that a different division of the same Court of Appeal had issued a ruling (Zolly v. City of Oakland) that…

Lawsuit charging CCTA with misrepresenting Measure J benefits is now fully briefed

July 29, 2020 August 3, 2020

After Appellant Michael Arata filed his Reply Brief and Motion for Judicial Notice, the case is now fully briefed. Previously, Contra Costa County had filed its Opposition Brief, and Contra Costa Transportation Authority had filed its Opposition Brief and Appendix. The Opening Brief, Motion for Judicial Notice, and a description of the case can be found here.

Lawsuit charges CCTA with misrepresenting Measure J benefits

June 5, 2020 June 24, 2020

After its role in drafting the ballot arguments opposed to Contra Costa Transportation Authority’s (CCTA’s) Measure J on the March 2020 ballot, TRANSDEF became concerned about the misleading language of the question on the ballot. Working with our attorney, we sent multiple letters to the County Registrar of Voters, the Board of Supervisors, and Contra Costa County Counsel. The second set of letters was sent after we discovered that County Counsel had modified her Impartial Analysis of the measure, taking out the first paragraph reference to the proposed sales tax being an additional tax. We decided that this was an…

Measure J on March Ballot

April 9, 2020 April 9, 2020

The Contra Costa Transportation Authority placed Measure J on the March 2020 ballot. Measure J would have doubled the existing transportation sales tax. On election night, Measure J received a humiliating 48.94% of the vote, where 66.67% was required to pass. That vote slowly climbed until it reached 51.69%, a resounding rejection of the Contra Costa Transportation Authority and the leadership of Contra Costa’s elected officials, who nearly unanimously endorsed the measure. TRANSDEF organized the submission of ballot arguments opposed to the Measure. See Recent Contra Costa Transportation History for a broader understanding of the issues facing voters.

East Bay Times hits a homer

March 1, 2020 March 1, 2020

In its second editorial about Measure J, the East Bay Times hits at the failure of County Counsel to provide a legally mandated Impartial Analysis that is, in fact, impartial.

Measure J greenwashing exposed

February 24, 2020 February 27, 2020

Measure J was discussed in a powerful article in the East Bay Times, with the sub-heading “Critics charge tax measure is ‘greenwashing’ in car-centric county.”

Update: Lawsuit challenges claims made by Measure J

February 18, 2020 February 27, 2020

A lawsuit was filed on December 30, 2019, seeking to have the ballot letter designation, the ballot question and the Impartial Analysis modified before the Voter Guide for Contra Costa County is printed. The suit was granted priority status, because it is an election matter. A hearing was held Monday, January 6 on the merits of the suit. The court dismissed the suit, asserting it had been filed two days late, after the 10-day inspection period had passed. Petitioner filed a Motion for Reconsideration, and sought an early hearing date, which was denied. Petitioner then filed a Notice of Appeal,…

TRANSDEF opinion piece in Chronicle

February 13, 2020 February 27, 2020

The Chronicle gave TRANSDEF the opportunity to go into detail as to why Measure J in Contra Costa won’t do enough to keep congestion from getting much worse:

Tag: Taxes