Tag Archives: Sales Tax

Recording Available: Sacramento County Measure A Meeting 9/14/23

In case you missed this special presentation about Measure A at the ECOS Climate Committee meeting on Thursday September 14, 2023 at 6:00pm, you can request a recording of the meeting. Just send an email to office[at]ecosacramento[dot]net for a copy of the recording.

Agenda

6:00 Welcome and Introductions

6:10 Existing Sacramento County Measure A: What It Said, What It Has Done, What It Will Do

Sacramento County voters passed Measure A in 2004, a sales tax to fund transportation improvements through 2039. This presentation is designed to provide us with a basis of understanding and point of reference for a possible November 2024 ballot measure. Also, is there any flexibility to modify how future Measure A revenues may be used?

Co-presented by:

• Kevin Bewsey: Executive Director, Sacramento Transportation Authority
• Liam Huber: ECOS Intern; UC Davis Environmental Management & Policy

Discussants:

• Henry Li, CEO and General Manager of Sacramento Regional Transit
• Michael McKeever, former Executive Director of SACOG

Open Discussion, Q&A

7:05 General updates and announcements

This meeting is open to everyone interested in addressing some of our region’s most pressing challenges.

Click here to view the agenda in PDF.

Sales tax increases to improve Sacramento County keep getting rejected. Here’s why

June 18, 2023 | By the Sacramento Bee Editorial Board

It has been nearly 20 years since Sacramento County voters managed to raise the local sales tax to address transportation needs: A measure in 2016 barely missed the required two-thirds voter threshold; a follow-up attempt in 2020 was pulled from the ballot; and then there was the flame-out of Measure A last November. Measure A’s last iteration was a failed experiment to place a sales tax measure on the ballot through an initiative campaign bankrolled by builders and trade unions. The measure proposed the construction of several roads that weren’t even on the regional planning agency’s list. While it deserved to fail, Measure A represents the third unsuccessful attempt in just six years to find a combination of transportation investments that voters could approve.

Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/article276453371.html#storylink=cpy

Renewal of Measure U in Sacramento

September 10, 2018

The Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS) has submitted a letter in response to the renewal of Measure U in Sacramento. The content of the letter is below.

Dear Mayor and City Council:

The Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS) agrees with the concerns about the renewal of Measure U expressed in a recent letter from neighborhood groups and their supporters to the Sacramento City Council. We are also concerned that a permanent extension of the City’s local sales tax measure (Measure U) without significant changes in community engagement, budget process, and oversight will mean that City residents who will pay this tax will have no way to ensure that the funds collected are used for the greatest and most equitable community benefit.

ECOS generally supports the four proposals outlined in the letter submitted from the neighborhood groups:

  1. There should be meaningful comminity engagement for all plans and pending decisions that represents our diverse communities. This process should begin well before a final plan or decision is released, and all comments and documents received in that engagement should be publicly available. Engagement should prioritize low-income communities and communities of color.
  2. Once per year, with the annual budget, the City should conduct an assessment of the impact on disadvantaged communities by the previous year spending and proposed spending for the next fiscal year.
  3. The City should implement a participatory budgeting process to get meaningful public input on the spending that will be proposed for each annual budget. This process must conclude before any final budget is proposed for the next fiscal year and include meaningful community engagement. Any final recommendations should include a racial impact assessment of proposed spending.
  4. There should be meaningful citizen budget oversight through a citizen oversight committee that has the ability to convene meetings when the committee deems necessary and to provide recommendations to the City on budget spending and proposals.

We request that the City Council take formal action to adopt these requests before the November election. We look forward to working with you to institute these long-needed changes to the City’s planning and budget process.

Sincerely,
Ralph Propper
ECOS President

To access the letter in PDF, click here.