No to Santa Clara County and VYA sales tax proposals.

This was a press release on the issue I sent out yesterday mornning.
--eugene

========== Press release ==========
GROUP OPPOSES COUNTYWIDE SALES TAX PROPOSALS

County, Transit Officials Should Rescind Sales Tax Proposals and
Live Within Modest Means

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA -- The Santa Clara VTA Riders Union (SCVTARU –
http://www.vtaridersunion.org), a public transit advocacy and
watchdog group in the South Bay, expresses their opposition of two
(2) sales tax proposals whose ballot status will be decided this
week. The group is not affiliated with the Santa Clara Valley
Transportation Authority (VTA - http://www.vta.org) in any way
whatsoever. SCVTARU instead calls on Santa Clara County's Board of
Supervisors and the VTA's Board of Directors to bite the bullet and
rescind these sales tax proposals and live within their means.

The first sales tax proposal that SCVTARU opposes is a Santa Clara
County 1/2-cent sales tax proposal for general and public
transportation purposes. If the Santa Clara County Board of
Supervisors approves the proposal at its Board meeting February 28
in San Jose, it will appear in this June's election ballot for voter
approval:

DATE: Tuesday, February 28, 2006
TIME: 6:30pm
PLACE: Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors Chambers, 70 W.
Hedding Street (at N. First Street), San Jose

The other sales tax proposal that SCVTARU opposes is the VTA's
1/4-cent sales tax for transportation. This sales tax proposal could
go to the ballot either this June or November for voter if approved
by the VTA's Board of Directors at their upcoming meeting this
Thursday:

DATE: Thursday, March 2, 2006
TIME: 5:30pm
PLACE: Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors Chambers, 70 W.
Hedding Street (at N. First Street), San Jose

One reason SCVTARU is against the County's 1/2-cent sales tax
proposal is that it lacks any specifics. The ballot language of the
County's sales tax proposal
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/29167> fails to mention
which specific programs would receive the expected $160 million in
sales tax revenue per year. For example: how much money would the
Housing Trust Fund of Santa Clara County receive under the proposal?
The county's proposal also fails to mention who would chose
the "citizens' advisory committee" responsible for overseeing the
sales tax revenue, and what qualifications would be required to
serve on the committee. For all SCVTARU and the general public knows
now, the money could easily go directly to the back pockets of Santa
Clara County's bureaucrats and politicians.

SCVTARU opposes the VTA's 1/4-cent sales tax proposal due to ongoing
lack of accountability and fiscal mismanagement at the
transportation agency.

* In 2000, Santa Clara County voters passed a 1/2-cent sales tax
increase that was to fund a county-wide list of public transit
projects. When it became obvious that sales tax revenue went down
after the "dot-com" crash from 2000-2004, VTA's emphasis changed
from building projects county-wide to "BART At All Costs." Instead
of living within modest means, VTA wants to hit Santa Clara County
taxpayers with yet another sales tax to fund their BART to San Jose
pipe dream. Other transportation projects promised to county voters,
like increased Caltrain commuter rail and county bus service, still
won't be fully funded if BART to San Jose costs more than what VTA
has projected.

* Every Santa Clara County resident already pays three (3) different
sales taxes to build and operate public transit and highway projects
in the county. These sales taxes are detailed on our web site at
<http://www.vtaridersunion.org/ffa/taxme.html>. Santa Clara County's
current transportation taxes include two permanent sales taxes
totaling 3/4 of 1% since 1978. It also includes the current 1/2-cent
sales tax approved by voters in 1996, to be replaced by the Measure
A sales tax approved by county voters in November 2000 starting
April 1.

* Members of the VTA Board of Directors -- who decide how your sales
tax revenue is spent -- are appointed at the city council and County
Supervisor level. County voters cannot run for a seat on the VTA
Board, nor can they elect or recall any member of the Board. As a
result, the VTA Board of Directors is currently accountable to no
one. The lack of accountability at VTA is what SCVTARU is fighting
to change. <http://www.vtaridersunion.org/DIY/board-change.html>

Additional talking points on the VTA's 1/4-cent sales tax proposal
can be found on our web site at
<http://www.vtaridersunion.org/ffa/vtatax2006_talkingpoints.html>.
Many of the talking points are also good for use in the County's
1/2-cent sales tax proposal.

If approved by the County and VTA, and approved by voters this year,
the county's sales tax could go from 8.25% to as high as 9%. The
County's 1/2-cent sales tax proposal alone, if it becomes law, would
tie Santa Clara County with Alameda County as having California's
highest county sales tax at 8.75%. If the VTA 1/4-cent sales tax
makes the ballot box this year and voters approve that in addition
to the County's sales tax, it would raise the County's sales tax to
9% -- the highest in all of California.

Both sales tax proposals, if they become law, would further increase
the already high cost of living and doing business in Santa Clara
County. SCVTARU feels both sales tax proposals are regressive. The
proposals hurt small businesses and those living on fixed incomes
the hardest -- particularly residents in East San Jose and Gilroy,
since more of the income would be spent on the sales taxes. SCVTARU
asks what would happen when small businesses and working families
leave Santa Clara County for cheaper areas of California -- if not
leave California altogether. How much less sales tax revenue would
the County and VTA get?

The stigma of Santa Clara County having California's highest sales
tax at 9% by this time next year deeply concerns SCVTARU. Hence, we
are calling on the County Supervisors and the VTA Board to rescind
these sales tax proposals at their respective meeting this Tuesday
and Thursday, respectively. It is long past time for the County and
VTA do what every Santa Clara County resident has had to do the "dot
com" crash after 2000 -- live within modest means and make wise
spending decisions.


About the Santa Clara VTA Riders Union

Based in Mountain View, CA and founded in October 2000 by Eugene
Bradley, the Santa Clara VTA Riders Union (SCVTARU) is a grassroots
organization dedicated to ensuring that our elected officials
provide cost-effective, frequent, and reliable public transportation
in Santa Clara County. Our group is not affiliated with the Santa
Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) in any way whatsoever.
Our web site is at <http://www.vtaridersunion.org>.

Press Contact: Eugene Bradley -- 24 hr. cell (408) 888-2208

========== End Press Release ==========