Councilman Urges Sales Tax Funds Go to Open Space

As Ventura County leaders consider today whether to pursue a half-cent transportation sales tax, Ventura Councilman Steve Bennett is urging the Board of Supervisors to change the proposal so that half the money would go toward preserving open space.

The Ventura County Transportation Commission is expected to decide today whether to ask the supervisors to place a tax measure on the November ballot. The measure would increase the sales tax from 7 1/4 cents to 7 3/4 cents, raising more than $500 million over 20 years for highways, city streets and public transit in Ventura County.

If the commission agrees to go forward, the measure would face a series of hurdles before it could be placed on the ballot.

In addition to the supervisors’ support, the measure would need approval from a majority of the county’s 10 cities--or at least enough cities to constitute a majority of the county’s population.

In a letter to the supervisors, Bennett said the proposal would be more likely to pass if voters were assured that transportation improvements would not lead to rampant development.

“Many people view transportation taxes as encouraging urban sprawl,” Bennett said. “This is a classic way to neutralize that natural opposition.”

Chris Stephens, a transportation planner for the commission, said splitting the funds would not leave enough revenue to pay for much-needed transportation improvements.

“Even with a full half cent for transportation, it’s difficult for us to pull together all the projects we need to meet transportation and air quality issues,” Stephens said. “So cutting that in half obviously would be a problem.”

But Bennett, who says his proposal has the support of a range of environmental groups, said transportation leaders should be willing to compromise to gain approval for the proposal.

“We should work together on this,” Bennett said. “Half a loaf is better than no loaf at all.”

Supervisor John K. Flynn, who serves as an alternate on the Transportation Commission, said the best solution may be to place both options on the ballot and let voters decide.

“I don’t think we should rule out greenbelts as a possibility,” Flynn said. “We should let the voters chose whether they want to spend all the money on transportation or part of it on greenbelts, or not raise taxes at all.”

Even if Bennett’s plan gains enough support to win a place on the November ballot, it may not pass legal muster.

Special state legislation is required to grant counties the right to increase sales taxes.

A blanket law allows for sales tax measures throughout the state for transportation, but no such law exists for measures dealing with environmental preservation, said Penny Bohannon, the county’s liaison with the Legislature.

Bennett said that if his proposal received voter approval, the Legislature could then be asked to pass the legislation needed to collect the tax.

Thousand Oaks Councilman Frank Schillo, who serves on the Transportation Commission, said voters will not be willing to support a sales tax increase in November, period.

“The issue here isn’t what the money will be spent on,” said Schillo, who is running for the Board of Supervisors in November. “The issue is that people don’t want to pay more taxes.”