As state legislators debate raising California's sales tax by another cent, local officials doubted Friday that will occur or will jeopardize a November ballot measure to renew a transportation tax in Santa Barbara County.

Among Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposals for erasing a $15 billion budget deficit in Sacramento is a one-cent increase, for three years, in the state sales tax. Currently, 7.25 cents is collected by the state for each dollar spent by consumers. That would increase to 8.25 cents under the proposal staunchly opposed by Republican lawmakers.

In Santa Barbara County, the existing levy totals 7.75 cents per dollar because an additional half cent has been collected - to pay for road repairs and transportation/transit projects and programs - since Measure D took effect in 1990.

The half-cent tax is due to expire in 2010, but Measure A on the Nov. 4 ballot asks county voters to renew that tax for 30 more years. That would raise an estimated $1 billion for a wide range of projects and programs countywide, including $140 million to widen Highway 101 in Santa Barbara.

Even though Measure A would continue an existing tax, and doesn't include any increase, it needs approval from at least two-thirds of voters to pass. That's a high hurdle to clear even without the state complicating matters by raising its sales tax.

“I think for some voters, without a doubt, that would play a role in their decisions” regarding Measure A, said Joe Armendariz, executive director of the Santa Barbara County Taxpayers Association and a Carpinteria city councilman. “The level of taxes in California is definitely something most taxpayers are concerned about.

“But I think people have the ability to differentiate between what's happening at the state level and what's occurring locally.”

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Andy Caldwell, a spokesman for the Coalition of Labor, Agriculture and Business (COLAB) who's also a Measure A advocate, said he is “watching the state tax (proposal) closely,” but hopes it won't affect county residents' view of the local measure.

“I'm hoping voters will be able to discern that Measure A money is locally controlled and desperately needed,” he said, “whereas the state tax (increase) is going to disappear in a black hole. I hope they'll be able to see that Measure A is something we need and another state tax is the last thing we need - that not all taxes are created equal.”

The question is whether enough legislators can be persuaded to vote for the one-cent sales tax hike so it achieves a two-thirds approval needed for the state budget. Such a change-of-heart among Republicans is widely considered unlikely, and would probably be contingent on voters statewide approving the tax increase in November, officials said.

“That's going to be a tough sell,” said Jim Kemp, executive director of the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG), which oversees Measure D monies and projects. “Whether that would erode support for Measure A remains to be seen. There is the issue of voter ‘tax fatigue' to consider.”

Like others, he noted “some key differences between Measure A and a state sales tax” increase. “The dollars raised by Measure A are going to stay in our community” for specific projects, Kemp said. “They're not money going into a black hole in Sacramento to cover the budget deficit.”

He's optimistic Measure A will pass, once voters realize its importance and see the list of local projects and programs it will fund.

“I think we just have to be clear that Measure A is a continuation of a tax they have been paying for almost 20 years,” he added.

John Whitehurst, a San Francisco consultant hired by SBCAG for advice on Measure A, said that measure may hurt the chances of a state tax hike winning voter approval in November, not the other way around.

“We believe voters will understand the difference between a tax increase” and renewing an existing tax, Whitehurst said. “Voters want Measure A as a reliable source of money for their roads, and it's not an increase in taxes.”

Chuck Schultz can be reached at 925-2691, Ext. 2241, or at cschultz@santamariatimes.com.

August 31, 2008