Keep Local Transit Funds Flowing

Gov. Gray Davis’ five-year, $5.3-billion transportation plan could run into a dead end if the Legislature fails to help California’s counties raise their share of funds for new highway and transit projects. Nevertheless, Davis is fighting a proposed constitutional amendment that would keep counties in the transportation chips into future decades.

Davis fears he will be branded a tax-increaser if he supports the amendment, sponsored by Senate President Pro Tem John Burton (D-San Francisco). But in fact the amendment merely would continue in place existing local sales taxes earmarked for transportation. The Burton amendment is the key to a balanced transportation plan and should be approved.

On Sunday, legislators approved a $100-billion state budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1. Their job is incomplete, however, until they decide how to divvy up available money for highway construction and mass transportation programs.

Local governments provide about half the dollars in the state’s transportation finance mix and often are called on to match state and federal funds. More than $1 billion a year in transit funds come from a special local-option sales tax levied in 15 of the state’s most populous counties since 1987. This does not count Los Angeles County, where the tax is permanent.

Renewing the transportation taxes once was seen as virtually automatic, but no longer. In 1995, the state Supreme Court ruled that a ballot initiative requiring a two-thirds vote to raise “special” taxes also applies to the transportation levy. This will make it considerably more difficult to renew the transportation taxes, which begin expiring in 2002.

Burton’s amendment, SCA 3, fixes the problem by allowing the local tax to be extended by a simple majority of county taxpayers. The amendment would require approval by statewide vote in November. Each county seeking the 20-year extension of its current transportation tax would have to pass a companion measure that includes a detailed spending plan.

Davis clearly fears he will be accused of supporting new or increased taxes. The issues should not be mixed. The governor is leading a campaign to lower the threshold vote for local school bond issues from two-thirds to 55% this November, after having backed a failed measure last spring to cut it to a majority vote. Approval of SCA 3 would have the same effect. The governor does not even have to declare that he likes the idea, only that the voters should have the chance to decide.