New plan for spending Measure B funds
Tax dollars could be spread more evenly after backlash over original plan to spend bulk on BART
SAN JOSE >> In response to a backlash from communities across Santa Clara County angry that it planned to spend the bulk of Measure B tax dollars on the BART extension into downtown San Jose, the Valley Transportation Authority has come up with an alternative proposal to spread the wealth around for local road and transit projects.
The new plan, which the VTA board discussed at its meeting Thursday, will more closely align the distribution of sales tax money toward projects that voters four years ago were promised would be funded if they approved Measure B.
But the peace that new plan may broker with elected officials and residents of Peninsula and West Valley cities may come with a steep price: It could add $410 million of debt service over 30 years for the BART expansion, raising overall costs to bring the mass transit system to San Jose to $7.3 billion, or almost $2.6 billion more than projected in 2017.
Leaders of cities outside San Jose cried foul when the VTA announced in November that most of the Measure B half- cent sales tax increase would pay for the BART extension over the next 10 years to meet a 2030 opening deadline instead of filling potholes and smoothing out crumbling roads around the county. The VTA and supporters of the measure such as Silicon Valley Organization assured voters that that no more than 25% of the about $5.5 billion would go toward the BART extension.
They made that promise because those cities had complained loudly that they were betrayed when money from previous tax measures they supported was spent primarily on BART work.
After the November plan’s release, city council members from Mountain View and Palo Alto to Morgan Hill and Gilroy became outraged all over again and wrote letters urging the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors to object and asking VTA to rethink the proposal.
Last month, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously
to oppose the VTA’s plan. And as late as Wednesday, elected leaders of cities across the county were talking of joining forces to amplify their discontent.
Super visor Joe Simitian said in an interview Wednesday he objected to the November plan because it fails to mitigate traffic congestion, breaks a promise made to voters before the measure went on the ballot in 2016 and undermines trust in public institutions, which could jeopardize the passage of future tax measures.
“If you look at that chart, it’s very clear, there is no money for local streets and roads, Caltrain grade separation, corridor capacity, the Highway 85 corridor or highway interchanges for the next decade,” Simitian said of the November plan. “The public has been great about taking a regional perspective and supporting BART, but at some point we have to ask how we move people around our county in a way that is environmentally and economically sensible.”
As the outcry grew, two VTA board members said the November plan was not meant to be viewed as the final document but rather as the beginning of a conversation about how to use Measure B money most efficiently.
In a statement Wednesday, V TA spokesperson Brandi Childress said BART was prominently displayed as a recipient of Measure B funds in the first plan “not only because of the advanced phases it is currently in but the fact that state funding partners have already committed millions and millions of dollars towards this transformative project with a federal funding commitment on its way.”
She said “there’s no question” that Measure B funds are a major part of financing BART and added the agency is “confronted with the challenge to find the most effective way to deliver all programs and projects in 2016 Measure B.”
Rob Rennie, a Los Gatos City Council member and VTA board member for two years, said in an interview Wednesday the November plan’s presentation was “extremely poorly done.” It was unclear Thursday whether a majority of the VTA board supported the agency staff’s latest plan. No action was taken, and the plan will be examined more closely at the board’s Jan. 22 meeting.
Rennie said the November plan attempted to use as much of the Measure B money it could for the BART extension to keep it on schedule. He also noted that unless the agency borrows money, “it’ll take 20 years” to complete the expansion.
He said the new plan is “much better” because it fully funds the programs
Measure B promised, although it does incur some debt.
The new plan includes $887 million for Caltrain grade separation projects, $156 million for increasing Caltrain’s corridor capacity, $230 million for Highway 85 improvements, $236 million for county expressways, $842 million for highway interchanges and a remaining $1.4 billion to be spent at the board’s discretion.
“I know this is a starting point and a guideline, but hopefully this will make people feel better about where we’re going with this,” said former Mountain View Councilman and north county VTA representative John McAlister.
But San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said during the VTA board meeting Thursday he is wary of committing so much money to projects that may not come to fruition by the deadlines projected. He called the new plan “an aggressive spending schedule” for projects outside BART and said he’s worried about incurring debt and sending the BART price tag higher.
“The question is whether we want to incur debt to send money to Wall Street and New York bondholders rather than on projects our communities need,” Liccardo said. “It’s important we don’t cling too tightly on what’s here. We still have an incomplete picture, and policy choices need to be made.”