Gilroy Chamber against funds for hospitals, transportation and
social services
Voters in Santa Clara County, including Gilroy and Morgan Hill,
will choose whether or not they want a hike in their sales tax when
they hit the polls June 6.
Gilroy Chamber against funds for hospitals, transportation and social services
Voters in Santa Clara County, including Gilroy and Morgan Hill, will choose whether or not they want a hike in their sales tax when they hit the polls June 6.
The Santa Clara Board of Supervisors in February voted to place the tax hike on the ballot, hoping to raise money for the county hospital, the Valley Transportation Authority and underfunded social services as they struggle with budget deficits.
The tax would raise the county sales tax from 8.25 percent to 8.75 percent, and promises to reap in $160 million annually. A simple majority vote is needed for approval.
But opponents say the board has been too vague on how they will spend the money. According to a recent report in the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal, Measure A, as it is called on the ballot, has been opposed by the usual voter bloc that opposes extra taxation across the board: “a conglomeration of anti-tax activists, a few environmentalists, some Libertarians and a passel of people with a dislike of BART.”
But opponents now include the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce, who says it disapprove of the unclear spending of the money. Moreover, the 720-member group believes the VTA is an inefficient state agency prone to wasting taxpayer money, the Journal reported.
Chamber wags say they have seen previous tax measures that were touted as transportation problem solvers. In 2000 county voters approved a similar ballot measure – also called Measure A – that was to fund the local share of a 16-mile extension of BART from Fremont to San Jose, buy new buses and electrify Caltrain. But after the economy tanked in 2000, the VTA found that it was $2 billion short on all those projects. But Measure A spokesman Bob Brownstein says opponents are misplacing their blame, and that the VTA didn’t create the dot.com bust of Silicon Valley.
“The Gilroy Chamber is blaming the VTA for a regional economic problem that VTA had no way to control,” Brownstein said. “They should pay more attention to the things the VTA is doing to improve.”
Voters will decide the matter June 6.
