Bay Area Group Files Lawsuit Against Transit Funding Measure, Says It’s ‘Deceptive’
Ten Bay Area voters called on a judge Monday to change the ballot language of a proposed regional sales tax measure that transit advocates say is critical to avoid deep service cuts.
The challengers filed the petition in Santa Clara County Superior Court, contending that the ballot question about to be printed in five Bay Area counties this November is deceptive and biased in favor of a yes vote, violating election laws.
“We want it to be an unbiased statement of what’s going to happen,” said co-petitioner Gregg Dieguez, who is president of the Committee for Affordable Bay Area Transit, a group opposed to the regional sales tax measure.
Dieguez said in an interview that he and the other named petitioners are all “ concerned citizens who have longstanding complaints about the amount of money being wasted on traditional transit.”
The ballot question, as approved last month by a governing body known as the Public Transit Revenue Measure District, and made up of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission board of directors, is as follows:
“To prevent major service cuts to BART and other transit, avoid increased traffic, and reduce pollution by: Preserving BART, Caltrain, VTA, SamTrans, AC Transit, Muni, other transit for everyone, including workers, students, seniors, persons with disabilities; Supporting transit safety, cleanliness, affordability, reliability; Repairing targeted roads/potholes; Requiring financial transparency, oversight, accountability; shall the measure enacting a 0.5% (Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Santa Clara counties), and 1% (San Francisco) sales tax for 14 years generating approximately $980,000,000 annually, be adopted?”
Taking a fine-tooth comb to that wording, the challengers want to hit the delete button on references to service cuts and preservation, among other issues.
For Dieguez and his co-petitioners, these details matter.
“ Preserving BART implies that it’s at risk in some way, whereas funding it implies what it is, giving it more money to continue to operate,” Dieguez said.
Major Bay Area transit agencies are facing steep budget deficits due to ongoing drops in revenue and ridership related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and are warning of drastic service cuts without passage of the regional measure known as the Connect Bay Area Act. The act would establish a half-cent sales tax in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, as well as a 1-cent sales tax in San Francisco, for 14 years, generating an estimated $980 million annually, according to Metropolitan Transportation Commission figures.
But Dieguez and the Committee for Affordable Bay Area Transit dispute that the agencies would fail without the additional tax revenue. The committee argues that transit operators could utilize existing capital funds to cover operating costs, reduce overtime pay or evaluate contracts with labor unions.
Jeff Cretan, spokesperson for the Connect Bay Area campaign, previously told KQED the committee’s claims were “not based in reality.”
“Our focus right now is explaining to voters that, if we don’t pass this measure, there will be catastrophic cuts to public transit that will hurt communities in all five counties,” Cretan told KQED on Monday.
Rebecca Long, director of legislation and public affairs at MTC, said the district is preparing its response.
“Both documents were prepared in accordance with California election law, and the District will defend them on the schedule the court sets. As this is a pending legal matter, the District has no further comment,” Long told KQED in an email.
Filed by attorney Jason Bezis of Lafayette, the petition also disputes the amount of money the sales tax would generate, arguing the MTC determined in September 2025 that it would generate about $200,000,000 more annually than currently disclosed. It wants the amount listed on the ballot changed.
The petition calls for the question to be trimmed down and amended significantly. If the opposition campaign were to have its way, it would look like this:
“Shall the measure imposing a 0.5% (Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Santa Clara counties) and 1% (San Francisco) sales and use tax for 14 years generating approximately $1,200,000,000 annually; Funding BART, Caltrain, VTA, SamTrans, AC Transit, Muni, other transit; Supporting transit safety, cleanliness; Repaving transit-serving roads; Requiring financial transparency; be adopted?”
The petition quotes Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters Matt Moreles as having said that the petition should be resolved by Aug. 28, “so the Registrar of Voters can meet necessary election deadlines.”
Editor’s note: A previous version of the story incorrectly stated that the petition aimed to block the measure, and misstated the difference between the sales tax revenue estimated in the ballot initiative language and the revenue petitioners said the measure would generate. The story has been corrected.