Mayor Singh-Allen reveals she, others exploring another multi-billion dollar countywide sales tax increase measure

Will the third time be the charm for the STA?

At the close of the Wednesday, May 10, 2023, Elk Grove City Council meeting, Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen said another ballot measure to raise Sacramento County sales taxes is being explored.
As a member of the Sacramento Transportation Authority, Singh-Allen said the multi-jurisdictional agency is exploring placing another sales tax measure on the 2024 or 2026 ballot. Singh-Allen said she is on the sub-committee exploring options (see video).
“There either is a poll or is going to be a poll to evaluate the desire for even a ballot measure in ’24 or ’26,” Singh-Allen said.
Singh-Allen did not reveal who is serving on the sub-committee.
The STA has failed twice since 2016 to increase sales taxes to fund transportation projects. In 2016, when a two-thirds supermajority was needed for approval, the measure failed by less than half a percent.
In 2022, Sacramento County voters resoundingly rejected another measure supported by the STA that needed a simple majority. The one-half percent 40-year sales tax hike that was expected to raise $8 billion was resoundingly rejected by a larger margin, with 55 percent of voters rejecting it.
Opposition to 2022’s Measure A tax hike drew a disparate group that ranged from environmentalists to anti-tax groups. One of the main reasons for the opposition was a significant portion of the funding was directed toward the Southeast Connector project, which voters saw as a money grab by real estate developers.
Not coincidentally, much of the funding for Measure A was provided by real estate developers, construction companies, and construction trade unions and was endorsed by several elected officials like Singh-Allen. Even though proponents failed for a second time, it was suggested another attempt would be made (see Tweets below).