What you need to know about SANDAG's 1/2-cent tax increase
More Transit Tax Money =
More Power for SANDAG & City =
More Ways to Change Your Zoning Without Your Knowledge
Monument to the Faceless Bureaucrat — Reykjavik, Iceland
On the November ballot is a measure to raise the sales tax 1⁄2 cent countywide to pay for mass transit. The measure is being marketed as "Let's Go San Diego".
Supporters of Neighbors For A Better San Diego probably already know that much of our zoning is now determined by proximity to transit; existing, planned, or just imagined by a bureaucrat inside SANDAG.
But what you may not know is that a SANDAG staffer’s proposal to move a bus stop by just a block or two, or to increase bus service, could put you within the boundaries of the City's Sustainable Development Area.
The mislabeled, poorly executed Sustainable Development Area is the core issue of the lawsuit against the City of San Diego that NFABSD is supporting.
Your single-family home may currently be outside the reach of the Bonus ADU Program, yet with a proposal to locate a bus stop near you decades into the future, you could soon end up with dozens of apartments on the single-family lot next to yours.
To add insult to injury, no money for needed infrastructure will be collected from the developer — meaning YOU will probably have to pay for it through an entirely different tax increase.
You will never see it coming...
These decisions are made in the burrows of the bureaucracy and rubber-stamped by the SANDAG Board. Our elected leaders do very little vetting of these staff decisions, and the media won’t know to report changes in bus routes/frequency as the significant zoning decisions they have now become.
NFABSD is not opposed to transit...
Some of us at Neighbors For A Better San Diego rely solely on mass transit for personal transportation, and even we have grave concerns about the half-cent SANDAG tax.
The City has created a zoning regimen where proximity to transit — even if it doesn’t exist today — is the sole control over what can be built. It's a regime that ignores topography, road networks, fire risk, and employment centers.
NFABSD is highly skeptical of backdoor zoning decisions stealthily made by unaccountable bureaucracies. The 1⁄2 cent Transit Sales tax increase further empowers these bad practices.
The 1⁄2 cent Transit Sales tax increase is NOT a solution to our public transportation (or housing) needs.
We urge you to vote No on Let's Go San Diego when you vote in November.
Please share this with someone you know in San Diego County.
Neighbors For A Better San Diego is a local non-profit group of San Diego neighbors, community leaders, and advocates who seek the creation of policies that benefit homeowners, renters, small businesses, and other stakeholders.
We are an all-volunteer organization, but our efforts require funding.
