The Equity Challenges and Outcomes of California County Transportation Sales Taxes
This report examines equity among local option sales tax (LOST) measures for transportation in California between 1976 and 2016. Since the first was enacted in 1976 in Santa Clara County (Silicon Valley), 76 LOST measures have appeared on county ballots, 48 of which (63%) were approved by voters. These measures have proven to be popular methods to finance transportation system construction, operations, and maintenance over the past four decades, increasing in number even after a 1995 ruling in Santa Clara County Local Transportation Authority v. Guardino required that LOSTs secure two-thirds support to pass. LOSTs are currently in place in 24 of California’s 58 counties that are home to 88 percent of the state’s population. Sales tax revenues dedicated to transportation today produce over $4 billion per year for transportation construction and maintenance in these “self-help counties.” Sixteen counties have enacted more than one sales tax measure: Alameda, Los Angeles, and Santa Clara counties have three, four, and five passed measures, respectively.
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Supplemental Notes:
- This document was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program.
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Corporate Authors:
UCCONNECT
,Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology
University Transportation Centers Program
Department of Transportation
Washington, DC United States 20590UCLA INSTITUTE OF TRANSPORTATION STUDIES
LOS ANGELES:
,Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
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Authors:
- Albrecht, Maxwell
- Brown, Anne
- Lederman, Jaimee
- Taylor, Brian D
- 0000-0002-1037-2751
- Wachs, Martin
- 0000-0002-6739-1654
- Publication Date: 2017-6
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
- Pagination: 125p
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Counties; Equity; Finance; Local taxation; Local transportation; Policy analysis; Sales tax
- Uncontrolled Terms: Tax ballot measures
- Geographic Terms: California
- Subject Areas: Economics; Finance; Highways; Society;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01667962
- Record Type: Publication
- Source Agency: UC Berkeley Transportation Library
- Files: CALTRANS, BTRIS, UTC, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT, STATEDOT
- Created Date: May 1 2018 3:01PM