Bay Area transit tax measure heads to November ballot as supporters, critics campaign

By CBS Bay Area

With less than two months to go, supporters and critics of a regional tax measure continue to campaign before voters head to the polls in November.

Senate Bill 63, also known as the “Connect Bay Area Act,” aims to raise the sales tax by 0.5% in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, and by 1% in the city and county of San Francisco. 

Sponsors say that if passed, this act would raise roughly $1 billion annually for the next 14 years to maintain transit agencies like BART, Caltrain, Muni and AC Transit. 

According to EMC Research, they surveyed approximately 1,700 voters across the five counties and found 54% support for the sales tax that would fund long-term operations. 

“I take BART to get to work a few days per week,” Emily Loper, senior VP of public policy with Bay Area Council, told CBS News Bay Area. 

This local civic group is a co-sponsor of the legislation. 

“I’ve worked in San Francisco my whole career. And I have always taken public transit to work. When I worked in the city, I took Muni buses to get to work downtown, and now when I live in Oakland I take BART to get to work,” she added. 

She and her team have been campaigning to get the word out about SB 63. 

“If we do not pass this measure in November, BART will be forced to cut service by up to 70%, close up to 15 stations, and eliminate nighttime service. Caltrain similarly will be forced to reduce its service to only hourly and close a third of stations. And Muni will also close a third of its service and double wait times,” Loper said. 

Gregg Dieguez, president of the Committee for Affordable Bay Area Transit, is part of a coalition against this proposal. 

“This is a regressive tax that would hit the lowest-income people who could least afford it the most. And it would push sales taxes over 10% almost everywhere, and almost 11% in some jurisdictions,” Dieguez told CBS News Bay Area.

“I think it’s clear that we’ve got to stop funding failure on the backs of the residents, and start asking them to operate with some cost-effectiveness,” he added. 

His group recently sued MTC, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, to change the wording of the measure’s question on the ballot. But a judge had dismissed their lawsuit. 

“We did file a lawsuit about the wording, which we felt was deceptive. It’s titled the regional transit measure, for example, not the regional transit tax measure, which it is. There was much more to our complaint, and we lost the lawsuit and the appeal, but we believe we were correct. This language is very biased,” he said. 

“They don’t deserve the money because they’re designed for a world that no longer exists when we need it to move everybody from everywhere all at once to the same places. We now have better agile, more affordable alternatives,” Dieguez added. 

MTC told CBS News Bay Area that their entire operating budget for FY 2025-2026 was $350 million, and the budget for FY 2026-2027 is $357 million. 

“They don’t deserve the money because they kept wasting it,” Dieguez said. 

But Loper says public transit agencies are critical to keep the Bay Area moving. 

“As a way of comparison, one of those packed BART trains that we just took right now, is the two of those trains is equivalent of a whole lane of Bay Bridge traffic in one hour,” she said. “We are really focused on ensuring the voters understand what is at risk if we don’t pass this measure.”

Supporters and critics of the measure continue to fight to get their message out before the November election.