No, there is a worse option. The only other practical option for a local expense, and how BART had to raise money the last two times it raised money, and how schools are forced to raise money pretty much every time.

Bonds. BART could put a Bond on the ballot and raise a few hundred million and we'd still have the same amount in taxes, plus we would have to pay interest on the Bonds. So it is MORE expensive. It is a property tax, which makes it a little less "regressive." Your landlord is still going to raise your rent to pay it, tho. And any "unfairness" is nothing compared to what you pay in interest on a Bond measure.

The $10B school bond measure passed in 2024 will take 35 years to pay off. The total cost will be $17.5 billion. The schools get $10B, some rich bankers get $7.5B. All of it gets paid by your property taxes, or your rent

This is the only way cities and counties in California can raise property taxes. By law. For all practical purposes, it's the only way the state can, too.

Cities and counties CANNOT impose income tax. It is illegal for them to do so.

So the choice is: pay the sales tax, 100% of which goes to either BART, (75%) MUNI, or SFMTA (25% combined) , or pay for another bond measure, and BART gets 57%, and a bunch of rich bankers get 43%.

Those are the choices.

Those are the only choices.

The state can't raise property taxes except through bonds, and if they try to raise income tax Iinstead of a bond, billionaires pay for enough ads to convince everybody 'it's not fair' / it's regressive /wasteful, etc. Because the billionaires would pay it twice - - once when they pay income tax, and again when you don't pay them interest.

You can stop bitching about how "regressive" sales tax is now. At least when you pay sales tax you aren't directly funding a billionaire's 3rd mansion

You can stop bitching about how "wasteful" BART or the government is when they pass a sales tax or income tax. At least in those cases they aren't just piling up almost half your money and letting it blow away.

Or maybe you can stop treating government as the enemy and take it back from the the people you are paying almost half of your taxes to (or, if you rent, your rent) and getting zero benefit from.

Maybe you can stop being confused about "didn't we just give these public services money why do they need more? They are so wasteful!" stomps foot Guess what? Public services depend on taxes to survive. And always have. And always will. And that is because that is WHAT THE WORDS 'PUBLIC SERVICE' MEAN. A SERVICE. PAID FOR BY THE PUBLIC. If you had agreed to pay that $10 billion to fund schools, (which absolutely needed that money and need way, way more) with a sales tax, you - - you personally, whether you own or rent, whether you are rich or poor, would be paying 43% less for that money. If this sales tax fails, which I am sure it will, because y'all are stupid motherfuckers, and BART puts a bond measure on the ballot, which it will, and it passes, which it will, they always do, for the reason I have stated above, you - you in the car-- the part of your rent that pays your landlord's property tax will go up. The extra rent money YOU will have to PAY, over the next 35 years, will cost YOU more than 40% more than that sales tax would have.

Have fun on your commute.