Measure T road tax is not the best plan, and Madera County voters should reject it

When it comes to transportation, voters in Fresno and Madera counties are joined by more than a few bridges across the San Joaquin.

The recent column by Ashley Swearengin and Rod Thornton of the Central Valley Community Foundation, “Measure C can be improved: Fresno County voters should mark no for now” makes that abundantly clear.

They are calling for a no vote on Measure C, the half-cent sales tax for Fresno County transportation purposes, in hopes of creating a worthwhile proposal for the 2024 ballot, well before the tax expires in 2027. Many of us have the same position on Measure T in Madera County.

Things here have been rushed; the community was excluded from the process, and now we’re being forced to campaign against a bad tax proposal, too. Sadly, local leaders rejected the findings of the 2017-18 Madera County grand jury report which found there has been inadequate citizen input into the current Measure T program for years.

As has been noted: “Residents want to see a renewed measure that prioritizes their community needs, instead of rushing those decisions in a proposed Investment Plan and Implementation Guidelines that the residents have not reviewed.”

We’re also on the same timeline for renewal. But not termination. Our local leaders propose removing the 20-year sunset clause to make our tax permanent, a “forever tax” that could only be removed by an expensive, citizen-led initiative.

The comments from Swearengin and Thornton apply equally to Madera County: the need for a larger vision and better prioritization of transportation investments; the need for a long-range plan to build community; the need to thoughtfully include and engage new voices, and finally the need to stop the county from irresponsibly forging ahead prematurely with the tax extension.

There is a dedicated group of politicians and special interests behind both counties’ taxes and they are in campaign mode. As voters receive their ballots in the mail and are bombarded with advertisements on all media, they will want to keep an eye out for misleading language, including on the ballot itself.

For example, on the Madera County ballot voters will be deceptively told that Measure T is “now set to expire” when in fact it won’t end for five more years. They will also be promised that the tax “helps seniors and people with disabilities remain independent.”In sad truth, there is no plan to fund the paratransit system necessary to serve people who can no longer drive, particularly seniors living on fixed incomes in rural communities.

Young and middle-aged voters have even more to be concerned about. A forever tax is mostly unfair to them. Not only they lose a voice in the process that a sunset clause guarantees, they also lose control of their future tax dollars. Decisions being made today will be locked-in for decades to come, mostly by issuance of construction bonds and long-term debt.

Finally, our roads are in need of better repair and maintenance, but Measure T is unbalanced. A huge portion is dedicated to highway improvement, but we already pay very high state and federal taxes for that. Another $375 million will be paid out as major road subsidies for new growth areas. Local roads will continue to be ignored in too many communities.

A long-term vision for transportation is needed in both counties. I trust the Central Valley Regional Foundation will really put the “regional” into that effort. There are many Madera County residents interested in working together.