San Rafael City Council Chambers
San Rafael, California
January 17, 2017
7:00 PM PT
Posted by:
Joan Bennett
- January 16, 2017 - 10:28 PM PST
At its meeting tomorrow night, the San Rafael City Council will vote on endorsing a Transportation Authority of Marin proposal to raise the sales tax throughout Marin by up to 0.5%. This will raise the total sales tax in some Marin jurisdictions to over 10%.
We urge you to attend this meeting -- 7pm, Tuesday 1/17, at San Rafael City Hall -- to speak out against this proposal.
San Rafael should not rush to endorse or support a higher sales tax in Marin without taking ample time to solicit and consider constituent opinion.
This is also an important opportunity for concerned citizens to speak up against handing more money to a transportation authority that has not been a prudent or transparent steward of our funds. TAM has proposed to spend Measure A “congestion relief” sales tax funds on projects that actually make traffic worse, such as the to the proposed Sir Francis Drake Corridor rehabilitation project. TAM has also in the recent past sought to “swap” Measure A restricted funds with other agencies in order to spend on projects that are not permitted under Measure A.
Many Marin taxpayers are already stressed by the spate of recent local tax increases. Sales taxes are the most regressive, with the burden falling hardest on those who earn the least. TAM’s record does not inspire confidence that the money will be spent primarily on what matters most to voters – improved vehicular traffic flow.
Please attend the January 17 San Rafael City Council meeting to express your opinion!
Please also send emails to the San Rafael City Council,
especially if you can't attend the meeting on 1/17!
Write and say that you (1) oppose raising the sales tax for TAM and (2) want CC to defer voting to endorse the sales tax measure until more constituents are informed about and can weigh in to the city council on this matter.
In that document you will see that TAM is asking San Rafael to endorse its plan to ask the state to grant Marin a waiver of the 10% sales tax cap in order for TAM to ask voter approval for an additional 0.5% sales tax. That would double TAM’s slice of every taxable transaction to 1.0%. Mike McGuire is sponsoring legislation in the state senate to raise the sales tax cap in Marin. We also encourage you to contact his office to object. His email address is: senator.mcguire@senate.ca.gov
