Blog Post < Previous | Next >
TAM logo
McGuire says No Waiver Sought on CA Sales Tax Cap in 2016
GOOD NEWS! A letter to me from McGuire promises no 2016 sales tax cap waiver legislation.
I recently received a personal letter from State Senator Mike McGuire in reply to my letter to him expressing opposition to legislation he had been asked to sponsor that would have raised the sales tax cap in Marin. (See below for background on that issue and my previous letter to McGuire on the subject.)
In Senator McGuire's letter to me, he states "I wanted to follow up and let you know there will not be any legislation advancing regarding the cap in 2016.
This is a rare, quick victory for Marin constituents contesting the agencies' money-grab efforts during what they perceive as a currently permissive economy.
Thanks to Senator McGuire for representing the voters, rather than bowing to the pressure from the Transportation Authority of Marin (whose board includes all five of our Marin supervisors) via its contracted legislative "consultant."
Thanks also to any readers who responded to my plea and sent letters of support for my message to McGuire with copies to Assemblyman Marc Levine and Governor Jerry Brown.
See below for my original post on this topic and my initial letter to McGuire.
-------------------------------------------
Posted: January 20, 2016
TAM wants a special Marin-specific waiver to state law capping county-level sales taxes. The waiver would remove obstacles to a measure to levy an additional sales tax. This would presumably be positioned as providing additional revenues for "traffic congestion relief," as was the existing 1/2 cent sales tax approved under 2004's Measure A.
Below is a letter I sent to Senator Mike McGuire, encouraging him to resist pressure from a TAM-hired consultant to sponsor Marin-specific legislation enabling the county to exceed the sales tax cap.
I encourage you to weigh in with Senator McGuire, asking him to "just say no." Send copies also to Assemblyman Marc Levine and Governor Brown. If the TAM initiative dies in Sacramento we won't have to fight it at the ballot box. You might also cc TAM's Board of Commissioners, which includes all of Marin's Supervisors plus representatives from each of Marin's cities/towns: they voted unanimously to engage a consultant to seek Senator McGuire's help in getting legislation for a sales tax cap waiver from the state.
----------------------
January 20, 2016 Letter to State Senator Mike McGuire
Dear Senator McGuire:
At its December Special Meeting, the Transportation Authority of Marin engaged Gus Khouri of Khouri Consulting to place legislation on your desk exempting Marin from the current statewide cap on the county-level sales tax.
I am writing to urge you NOT to introduce or support legislation to raise the sales tax cap in Marin.
Such legislation would exacerbate the affordability crisis in Marin. Because sales taxes are regressive, the harm would be especially felt by lower income residents. As I am sure you are aware, there is a rapidly growing backlash against Marin’s elected officials’ undisciplined spending and the resultant explosion of special tax measures. Governor Brown wisely vetoed 2015 legislation that would have raised the counties’ sales cap tax statewide.
In 2004, Marin voters approved measure A which proposed to use revenues from a new 20 year ½ percent sales tax “to reduce local traffic congestion.”
In recent years Measure A revenues have significantly exceeded projections. Traffic congestion has gotten much worse. Exactly why is the subject of intense dispute. In any event, many voters disagree with TAM’s spending priorities and question its fiscal oversight. They believe a more disciplined approach would yield better traffic relief with the current tax revenues. Throwing more money at the problem is not a compelling proposition.
Citing an upcoming January deadline to put his Marin sales tax exemption proposal before legislative counsel, Mr. Khouri sought the TAM Commissioners’ immediate go-ahead. Not having gotten encouragement from Assemblyman Marc Levine’s office, he proposed “if you [the board] want, we can put something innocuous into McGuire’s office.”
Commissioner Steve Kinsey convinced the board that hiring Khouri to advance this proposed legislation would be “an opportunity to create an opportunity, it’s not a decision.”
Note that the TAM board did not commit, if provided a loophole by a piece of McGuire legislation, to put a sales tax measure on the ballot. Indeed, the Commissioners’ unanimous vote to engage Khouri was premised on Kinsey’s suggestion that they weren’t committing to anything. There was no discussion whatsoever of the merits, prospects, or specific uses of such a sales tax ballot measure.
Unfortunately, an object in motion stays in motion. The decision to hire a consultant to place “innocuous” legislation on your desk likely ends up as a measure on our ballot at a time when more and more Marinites question the incumbents’ approaches to solving our problems.
Rather than laboring to pass legislation to facilitate a Marin Ballot Measure that will undoubtedly be hotly contested, you would be prudent to spend your political capital (both in Sacramento and Marin) on other initiatives whose benefit to your constituents is more compelling.
People whom I respect speak highly of your political abilities and people skills. I look forward to getting to know you better over time. I would enjoy sharing a coffee chat about transportation policy and Marin politics should your schedule permit.
With sincere regards,
Mimi Willard
January 20, 2016
cc: Governor Jerry Brown, Assemblyman Mark Levine