Transit Panel Upbeat on Tax Vote

Dueling tax measures on the November ballot that would raise money for open space and transportation may not necessarily cancel each other out, Ventura County transportation commissioners said Wednesday.

A day after the county Board of Supervisors agreed to ask voters to approve a one-quarter-cent or one-half-cent sales tax to purchase prime real estate in the county, commissioners said they did not believe the measure would seriously threaten their own plans to seek a one-half-cent sales tax increase to widen freeways and improve local streets.

“I think these improvements are desperately needed and it’s imperative we look at them,” said Commissioner Patti Walker, who is also a Fillmore city councilwoman. “It’s sad that we have to turn to taxpayers to fund these types of things, but the public has a right to recognize their responsibility to let their voices be heard.”

The Transportation Commission is conducting a poll among county residents to determine if the proposed tax increase has a chance of passing. It would require a two-thirds vote. If the answer is yes, commissioners would put it on the ballot in the hope of collecting billions of dollars for transportation needs during the next 30 years. The open space conservation tax would last 10 years.

There are likely to be so many local and statewide pocketbook measures on the ballot, some commissioners said, that it would hardly come down to a one-on-one battle.

“The more things on the ballot, the more challenging it becomes,” said Steve Bennett, chairman of both the Transportation Commission and the Board of Supervisors. He tried unsuccessfully this year to sponsor a joint sales tax that would raise money for both causes.

While voters are contemplating these choices, they may find themselves angry enough to support an initiative that would restore state funding to cities and counties and prohibit further cuts, Walker said. The initiative is being proposed in response to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s plan to reduce funding to local governments by $1.3 billion as California faces a $14-billion budget gap.

“It could start an outcry to Sacramento that they need to keep their hands off our state revenue and leave our local tax dollars alone,” Walker said.

Money raised for transportation through a tax increase would be used to widen state California 23 in Thousand Oaks, California 118 west of Moorpark and Lewis Road, which serves Cal State Channel Islands near Camarillo, as well as other less immediate projects.

Walker said the proposal may draw more support if the percentage of tax revenue going to local road projects was increased. Currently, 40% of the proceeds would be diverted to highway projects and the remainder divided evenly between city streets and public transit.

Those figures could change after the poll results come in, said Kerry Forsythe, deputy director of the transportation agency. Commissioners are scheduled to learn the results at their May 7 meeting.

Commissioner and county Supervisor Linda Parks said voters may not view the open space and transportation proposals as an either-or proposition, but as complementary measures meant to ensure Ventura County remains an attractive place to live.

“I see open space as a balance to growth, which inevitably happens when you widen freeways,” Parks said.