A California county is set to decide on a controversial road tax this year after trying unsuccessfully to block the state from forcing the tax onto the ballot through legislation signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The Fresno County Superior Court ruled Monday that the legislation, Assembly Bill 1923, was valid even if it superseded the county Board of Supervisors’ authority, closing the book for now on a feud over who has power to put taxes on the ballot.
The proposed tax, dubbed the Better Roads, Safe Streets initiative, will add a half-cent sales tax meant to fund roads and other forms of transportation if approved by voters in November.
Fresno supervisors had been furious over AB 1923, claiming it amounted to state overreach.
“This is about whether Fresno County governs itself or whether political power and Sacramento connections can be used to overrule us whenever local voters and their representatives refuse to fall in line,” Fresno County Board Chairman Garry Bredefeld had said.
Supervisors had previously ordered a 30-day review of the citizen-initiated Measure S that critics said was meant to delay the measure beyond November. Supporters of the tax then turned to state lawmakers as a result.
The court’s ruling means voters will see the tax measure in November, especially after Bredefeld said in a statement the county would not appeal the decision.
He expressed opposition of the measure for being too pro-public transportation and anti-car in its spending rules.
“When we did our job and asked for a financial study, they ran to Sacramento and had their political friends rewrite California election law to target us – and us alone out of 58 counties. That is what unbridled corruption looks like,” he said.
“And we will defeat that corruption and not allow our children and grandchildren to be ripped off for thirty years by radicals that want to destroy our way of life.”
The legal back-and-forth over Measure S may cause even more confusion for voters in Fresno County, Fresnoland reported.
When Measure S was in court and its fate uncertain, the city of Fresno put up a citywide general tax on the ballot as a backup plan to ensure something would replace the current transportation tax that expires next summer.
Now, both Measure S and the city tax will appear on the ballot, though the city tax proposal states it is void if there is a countywide tax like Measure S.
Over the next few months, supporters — mainly community and social justice groups — and opponents of Measure S, such as county officials, will be campaigning and making their case to county voters.
The author of the state law, Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria, praised the ruling.
“Voters in Fresno County will NOT be denied their constitutional right to decide on this transportation measure,” Soria’s office said in a statement. “It’s time to move on. Fresno County has plenty of other issues it needs to focus on.”
