At a VTA board meeting Thursday night, chaos and confusion reigned with directors unable to decide on an approach to a proposed transit tax measure.
The VTA board heard a presentation on Senate Bill 63, which would create a sales tax district to support transit across the Bay Area. However, boardmembers couldn’t agree on whether to support the measure or county-specific approach. The discussion was further upended when VTA management informed the board, without prior notification, they should provide their stance in a letter to the bill’s authors at the meeting.
“I don’t think we’re in a position to take a vote tonight,” Vice Chair and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said. “We don’t want to give up leverage prematurely, let’s not rush to get to a position of support. Let’s continue to have the conversation and see how it plays out.”
VTA director and Santa Clara County Supervisor Sylvia Arenas was uncomfortable given such short notice.
“For this to be an information item, and then for you to drop it last minute, and for us to continue to move ahead but not move ahead, is not forthcoming to the whole board,” Arenas said. “If that was what the item was supposed to be, then we should have clearly labeled it as such.”
The board agreed to postpone the letter for further discussion at its June 5 meeting.
SB 63 is spearheaded by state Sens. Scott Wiener and Jesse Arreguin, and is making its way through various Senate committees. The bill would allow for either transit agencies or voter initiatives to put a sales tax on the November 2026 ballot. It also lists four Bay Area transit agencies as possible recipients, but doesn’t include VTA. Agency employees said at the April 25 meeting the tax could help VTA pay funding obligations to Caltrain.
At the same time, VTA management wants to renew Measure A, a half-cent sales tax approved by voters in 2000. It’s scheduled to sunset in 2036. The measure is expected to generate more than $290 million in fiscal year 2025.
VTA polled 800 voters, 400 about the regional measure and 400 about a county-specific measure. The results showed a 57% approval rate for either measure.
VTA General Manager Carolyn Gonot said the agency plans to send a letter to Wiener and Arreguin’s offices, explaining the board’s position and expectations before they consider opting into the tax district.
In addition to financial obligations for Caltrain, boardmembers want to ensure that VTA receives enough revenue to improve its own transit services. VTA director and Sunnyvale Councilmember Linda Sell said she would prefer VTA pursue both options, with the half-cent regional measure paying off the Caltrain obligation and another measure in two years that supports VTA’s projects and operations.
“I want our money in our control,” Sell said at the meeting.
Monica Mallon, a public transit advocate and San José Spotlight columnist, said she wants to see VTA board members take local riders into consideration when weighing the possible measures.
“The thing the board needs to consider the most is VTA’s own interest,” Mallon told San José Spotlight. “VTA has clearly shown that they’re able to recover and grow ridership, and I think that really shows that riders would benefit from more service and this is a growing market.”
She also voiced concerns with a potential voter initiative, which she thinks could face legal challenges because it’s being sanctioned by a state bill.
VTA could choose to opt into a regional tax measure and still pursue a county-specific measure. However, Mallon said it might be harder to meet the 66.7% voter approval threshold on any tax measure, as the economy gets tighter.
“I think that the board has been really taking the right approach here and considering things carefully, I would just caution them to not act too quickly and rush things,” Mallon said.
Glenn Hendricks, former Sunnyvale mayor and a former VTA board member, said he was skeptical Santa Clara County residents would receive as much benefit if they were opted into a regional measure. He said VTA should pursue a specific in-county measure to ensure the money generated supports Silicon Valley transit, rather than subsidizing transit in other parts of the Bay Area.
“Those other counties can do whatever they want, I just don’t think it’s in Santa Clara County voters’ best interest to participate in that,” Hendricks told San José Spotlight. “We need more money to help transit go, that’s not my issue. My issue’s just very selfishly me, as a voter and as a taxpayer, I just want my money to stay here.”
Story updated May 1 at 10:45 p.m. Original story published May 1 at 8:30 a.m.
Editor’s Note: A previous version of the story provided Measure A revenue generated for operations instead of total revenue in fiscal year 2025.
Contact B. Sakura Cannestra at [email protected] or @SakuCannestra on X.
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