Vote yes on Measure A

There is no question that Sonoma County’s road network is in poor condition. Leaders in government, business and public safety all agree that the woeful shape of our roads stands out among the most pressing problems facing the county.

Fortunately, it is also one of the few problems with a clear solution. Unfortunately, and this is where some disagree, it seems inevitable that the solution involves new tax revenue.

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors has placed on the June 2 ballot Measure A, an initiative that would raise countywide sales tax rates by a quarter-percent with the proceeds going to fix roads. We support Measure A, if our leaders keep their word and spend every cent of the new revenue on road repair. We have reason to take them at their word.

Measure A is proposed as a general sales tax, meaning it requires a simple majority to pass, unlike the two-thirds threshold required to pass a tax earmarked for a specific purpose. The money would be divided between the county, which would get 44 percent and the nine cities, which split the remaining 56 percent, based on population and road miles.

As a general tax, leaders can spend it on anything. But county leaders have pledged to use their share, roughly $8 million per year, to fix the 1,383 miles of county roads that consistently rank among the worst in the Bay Area. Cities would get to use their share - Petaluma stands to receive almost $2 million annually - for much needed street repair.

But why should we trust a politician’s promise? For one thing, the sales tax includes an annual audit to show how the money was spent. There would be no chance of our leaders renewing the measure in five years when it expires if they fooled us once. They will also have a difficult time running for reelection with the shards of a broken promise embedded deeply in the soles of their feet.

An easy way to ensure that the money is spent on road repair is by having each city and the county sign a contract with the Sonoma County Transportation Authority. The agency is already a clearinghouse for other transportation-related sales tax money, and it has the capacity to handle the Measure A funds.

This new sales tax revenue should not be an excuse to take pressure off the need to negotiate a reduction in the county’s unfunded pension liability. Our leaders still need to work creatively to find solutions to that and other pressing problems.

There are plenty of reasons why our roads are a mess, including slumping gas tax revenue, chronic under-investment and the expansive, rural nature of the countywide network that is the largest in the state. But in the last four years, county leaders have invested record amounts to repave nearly 200 miles of roads and chip away at the backlog, which still stands at hundreds of millions of dollars.

General fund spending is not enough. With this new sales tax, and a commitment to spend it on roads as laid out in the county’s plan, we can get the network back to health.

There are few government services that touch our lives every day like roads. Our businesses, manufacturers and farmers depend on the road network to move goods around and grow our economy. Our public safety responders need quality roads to reach those in need of assistance.

We rely on roads to get our kids to school and ourselves to work.

We all use roads, so we all should contribute to the solution. This is not a problem that we can wait much longer to fix. The worse the condition of the pavement, the more expensive it is to repave, and after a certain point, the only option is to rip it out and build a new road, which is extremely expensive.

We don’t want our roads to go to gravel. We want them repaired to good condition. The best solution is continued investment in roads, and new sales tax revenue is the only way to get that accomplished. The Argus-Courier recommends voting yes on Measure A to help fix the roads.