Mar 10
In Major Win for Riders, Transportation Authority Board gives approval for new 2022 Sales Tax Expenditure Plan
On Tuesday March 8th, the San Francisco County Transportation Authority Board of Directors voted unanimously to endorse the $2.6 billion Transportation 2022 Sales Tax Expenditure Plan. This new 30-year spending plan for the existing half-cent sales tax will help deliver safer, smoother streets, more reliable transit, continue paratransit services for seniors and persons with disabilities, reduce congestion, and improve air quality. San Francisco Transit Riders was an active member of the Expenditure Plan Advisory Committee, and after numerous consultations with our member-led Local Funding Working Group, is in strong support of the measure.
History of the Sales Tax
The half-cent sales tax was first approved by San Francisco voters in 1989. Voters continued the half-cent sales tax in 2003 with passage of Prop K, adopting a new expenditure plan which is currently in place. In the past two decades, the Transportation Authority has directed nearly $2 billion to fund transportation projects large and small across the city. Major capital investments have included the purchase of new Muni buses and light rail vehicles, Salesforce Transit Center, the electrification of Caltrain (anticipated to be completed in 2024), Muni Central Subway, and reconstructing Doyle Drive, now known as Presidio Parkway.
On average, every $1 in half-cent sales tax funding attracts $4-$7 in additional funding from federal, state, or other sources — an important consideration given passage of the historic federal infrastructure bill last fall.
New and Improved Spending Categories
The new expenditure plan focuses on a more equitable, accessible transit system by maintaining and enhancing Muni, BART, Caltrain and ferry services and prioritizing projects that service transit dependent and low-income communities. Thirty-eight percent of the measure, roughly $992 million, funds Muni reliability, core capacity improvements and maintenance that are essential to a reliable and well-functioning transit system. Specifically, these funds will support Muni’s conversion to zero-emissions buses, additional transit-only lanes, bus bulbs, and traffic signal priority that is essential to SFTR’s 30x30 vision and infrastructure investments needed to accommodate 4-car trains in the Muni Metro Tunnel and 3-car trains on the N Judah.
Thanks to the advocacy of SFTR and other members of the Expenditure Plan Advisory Committee, the plan also provides $297M for paratransit, representing 11.4% of the overall measure and a $90M increase from what was initially proposed. Paratransit is chronically underfunded and this investment is critical to the growing community of seniors and people with disabilities in San Francisco, providing needed services and programs like SFMTA’s Essential Trip Card and ramp taxi accessible services programs.
Finally, the plan funds other transit agencies that are essential to riders in San Francisco, including $100 million for BART core capacity and $310M to finally complete the Caltrain Downtown Extension.
Leading with Equity
Beginning with the makeup of the Expenditure Plan Advisory Committee and throughout the process, equity in process and outcomes was central to the expenditure plan. Eight of the 27 members of the committee represented equity priority communities including the Bayview, Chinatown, Excelsior, Tenderloin, Western Addition, Mission and Ingleside. Expenditure Plan outreach particularly targeted low income communities, communities of color, and monolingual communities across the city, to help advance the Transportation Authority’s equity framework.
To address the regressive nature of the sales tax, new project prioritization criteria was developed to direct funding toward communities historically harmed by displacement and past transportation projects in addition to low-income residents, communities of color and equity priority communities. These communities also were given increased voice in the approval and development of projects both in the selection process and via $47 million dedicated to transportation planning and programs in equity priority communities.
Next steps
The SFCTA Board will hear a second reading of the new Expenditure Plan, as it does with every item, on March 22, 2022. From there, the plan will go to the regional transit body, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, in April. In late spring the expenditure plan will return to San Francisco to be officially placed on the November 2022 ballot by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
While approval at MTC and the Board of Supervisors is highly likely, the sales tax still requires support from 2/3rd of voters on the November ballot. If the new plan fails to garner a supermajority in 2022, the current Prop K expenditure plan would still be in place and the sales tax would continue. However, several programs such as paratransit and traffic signals are now running out of Prop K money and new capital projects that support the city’s economic recovery and create jobs would not move forward.
San Francisco Transit Riders is committed to ensuring that the sales tax passes on the November ballot. But we need your help! To support our work funding San Francisco’s transit future, become a member of SFTR today and join SF Transit Riders’ Local Funding Working Group.
