Milestones: 9-24-08

(by Miles Barber - September 29, 2008)
By Miles H Barber
    Ever notice that once in a while something doesn’t “feel” right?
    You can’t put your finger on the exact reason and your gut tells you there is something wrong here.
    This is the dilemma we have with the new transit tax in Measure B. This is the measure designed to bring BART from Fremont to San Jose and Santa Clara.
    There are a lot of reasons we would like to have BART coming all the way to Santa Clara. However, you might notice that Santa Clara is the last stop to be built in this proposal. If the Transit Guru’s run out of money again BART may not make it this far.
    Michael Burns, Director of VTA states that he has turned around the transit organization and has an independent audit to prove his point.
    Carl Guardino, President of Silicon Valley Leadership Group says this is the last tax increase we will need to assure the arrival of BART to the South Bay.
    It sounds good, it looks good, it smells OK and something about this measure doesn’t feel right.
    It is not the eighth of a cent increase. We could probably swallow that without too much of a hiccup.
    It’s not that it would put Silicon Valley near the highest sales tax bracket in the state. We are a pretty wealthy community and could absorb that.
    When you dig down into your gut to find what is causing this uncomfortable sense of being, you may find it has to do with trust.
    Do we really believe the proponents of Measure B are capable of delivering what they promise?
    Is there that reassurance our transit program funds are being spent efficiently?
    Critics point out maybe not.
    Measure A which passed in 2000 added a quarter cent in sales tax and was activated in 2006. It now generates about $160 million a year for transit subsidies. While some say a portion of these funds were to be used for BART no one at VTA seems to remember that.
    There is that well know axiom that government will expand the budget of expense to exceed the amount of revenue given the opportunity.
    We have seen that proverb demonstrated quite dramatically at the Federal and State levels this year.
    Do we really trust our transit authority to spend these new funds frugally when there have been serious excesses in past years?
    VTA does rank among the highest in cost per passenger mile in the State and one of the highest in the country.
    Of course there is the argument that VTA has nothing to do with BART other than building the system. The construction funds are obtained from Washington D.C. and Sacramento. Operation and maintenance is the responsibility of BART which would be funded with new taxes from Measure B.
    Sounds simple, sounds good, looks reasonable and doesn’t quite feel right.
    Is it the back room discussions about the new sales tax that will be needed in 2012?
    Miles H.  Barber can be reached at Scweekly2004@yahoo.com