{"id":255,"date":"2026-05-23T11:06:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T11:06:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=255"},"modified":"2026-05-23T11:06:35","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T11:06:35","slug":"endorsement-santa-clara-valley-open-space-tax-would-be-too-much-too-soon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=255","title":{"rendered":"Endorsement: Santa Clara Valley open space tax would be too much, too soon"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In the past 12 years, the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority has nearly doubled the amount of environmentally sensitive South Bay land it oversees.<\/p>\n

Read more Opinion: Can California\u2019s new online platform help rebuild democracy?<\/a><\/p>\n

That has included, for example, properties in Coyote Valley, the Diablo Range and upper Coyote Creek watershed.<\/p>\n

The authority\u2019s tax income will not be enough to fund the future costs of maintaining its current 30,000 acres. The authority, with 65 budgeted positions, is outspending its annual revenue.<\/p>\n

So, voters are being asked to approve a new parcel tax that would raise about $17 million annually, more than doubling the authority\u2019s annual tax revenue.<\/p>\n

But the authority has enough reserves to make it into the early 2030s, the tax is more than needed and the levy, while increasing annually with inflation, has no expiration date. Put another way, the tax is premature, costs too much and lacks voter guardrails.<\/p>\n

We have previously supported the authority\u2019s tax measures, but we urge voters to reject Measure D on the June 2 ballot.<\/p>\n

The measure would impose a property tax of $20 per 1,000 feet of building, or $32 annually for an average single-family home of 1,600 square feet. For owners of large properties, the tax would top out at $7,500 annually.<\/p>\n

The authority\u2019s jurisdiction includes the cities of San Jose, Santa Clara, Milpitas, Campbell, Morgan Hill and parts of unincorporated Santa Clara County.<\/p>\n

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Currently, the authority relies heavily on revenue from two taxes that bring in about $13 million annually. The first is a benefit assessment district fee on most, but not all, of the properties within the authority boundaries. For single-family homes, the levy is $12 annually. The second is a $24 annual parcel tax approved by voters in 2020.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re sympathetic that the authority has a harder time raising revenue than, for example, the much older East Bay Regional Park District or the adjacent Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District.<\/p>\n

Read more Horoscopes May 23, 2026: Jewel, press for positive change<\/a><\/p>\n

That\u2019s because the authority does not share in the proceeds from California\u2019s 1% base property tax rate. The authority was created in 1993, 15 years after the statewide passage of Proposition 13, which radically changed how base property tax revenues were divided. Agencies created since then cannot share in that base and must seek voter approval for additional taxes.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not a reason to seek a bigger measure than what\u2019s needed, especially one affecting taxpayers that already live in some of the least-affordable cities in the country.<\/p>\n

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The authority projects that over the next 15 years Measure D would provide a total of approximately $150 million more than the authority needs for operating expenses.<\/p>\n

Authority officials say they plan to use the extra money, combined with funds from outside sources, primarily for public access improvements, land protection programs and habitat and water resource restoration. While those are laudable goals, the details are squishy and not essential.<\/p>\n

Finally, Measure D\u2019s route to the ballot has been unconventional and troubling. The authority devised the structure of the tax. But when a special district places a tax on the ballot in California, it requires approval from two-thirds of voters, a threshold that authority-commissioned polling showed it could not meet.<\/p>\n

So, the political arm of the Peninsula Open Space Trust, which helps acquire land that the open space authority often manages, qualified the measure for the ballot through an initiative signature-gathering drive. That route enables passage with only a simple majority.<\/p>\n

Clearly, this is a coordinated effort between the authority and the trust to circumvent the two-thirds voter approval threshold.<\/p>\n

When the authority last sought taxing approval in 2020, that measure received 81% voter support. This time, rather than trying to game the system, the authority should come back with a more-tempered measure that can again win such widespread support.<\/p>\n

Read more Asking Eric: My neighbor found out a secret from a misdelivered letter<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vote no on Measure D. The levy, bigger than what\u2019s needed, would affect some of the least-affordable cities in the country<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\nEndorsement: Santa Clara Valley open space tax would be too much, too soon - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=255\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Endorsement: Santa Clara Valley open space tax would be too much, too soon - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Vote no on Measure D. 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