Measure A funds will go to roads

Despite what critics say, every cent of the sales tax measure will be spent on road repair.|

The sales tax increase proposed on the June 2 ballot has generated a lot of passion on both sides of the issue. The proposal, Measure A, would raise countywide sales tax rates by a quarter percent for five years.

Our elected officials have promised that the roughly $20 million annually that the measure will generate will go towards fixing the county’s ailing 1,383-mile road network, long identified as a top priority, and repairing city streets, like Petaluma’s crumbling asphalt.

Critics of the measure say that these are empty promises. Measure A is proposed as a general sales tax, meaning the funds are not earmarked for a specific spending purpose. This kind of tax requires a simple majority to pass compared to a specific purpose tax, which requires a two-thirds approval. Critics, in full-throated letters to the editor, angrily proclaim that Measure A is not a road tax.

Call it what you will, but the money from Measure A will go towards roads.

Sure, our elected officials could lie to our faces, take the money and then vote to triple their salaries or buy a gold-plated Sheriff’s helicopter. That’s not going to happen. If Measure A passes, every penny of the sales tax revenue will be spent on roads. If you don’t believe that, you do not understand how politics works.

Our officials are in place because we elected them. We can just as easily remove them, and they know that. The county supervisors who are on record promising to spend the money on roads have staked their political future to this guarantee. With so much scrutiny on this tax measure, they have little choice but to follow through on their pledge. The measure requires annual audits, so we will know exactly where the money was spent each year. And we will be watching.

But what of our city leaders? After all, 56 percent of the sales tax revenue is slated to go to city coffers.

Petaluma’s elected officials are now on record as saying they will spend the city’s $2 million annually on much needed street repair with 10 percent going to public transit. The City Council passed a resolution, albeit non-binding, that states the officials’ intent to spend the money on streets. The more we have public officials on the record stating that they will use the money to repair the asphalt, the easier it will be to hold their feet to the fire.

As an added layer of assurance that the money will go for roads, one that is legally binding, county officials have said that the first thing they will do if the sales tax measure passes is sign a contract with the Sonoma County Transportation Authority, funneling all of the new revenue to the agency. Then, when the county or a city wants to access some of these funds, it will have to put in a request through the SCTA, which will verify that it will go towards a road project.

The SCTA is already serving this function with money collected through Measure M, the transportation-related sales tax that voters passed in 2004. It would be easy for the agency to dole out Measure A funds as well.

Don’t let critics and naysayers convince you that the Measure A money would not be spent on roads. It will. And this is much needed money to finally solve a critical, long-term problem that may not be fixed otherwise. On June 2, vote yes on Measure A to support road repairs.

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