Support for transit sales tax Measure G trails in early results
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Measure G, the countywide half-cent sales tax increase to pay for regional transportation projects, is trailing in the first batch of results, but the outcome remains too close to call.
Why it matters: The region's hopes for major transit projects — like an airport-trolley connection and moving the rail corridor from the erosion-plagued Del Mar bluffs — relied on the new funding source.
Driving the news: As of Wednesday morning, 51.7% of county voters opposed Measure G, and 48.3% of county voters supported it.
- The Registrar estimates it has 590,000 countywide votes remaining. Those will continue to be tallied through Nov. 15.
Flashback: In 2016, the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) — the agency that controls regional transportation dollars and uses it to attract matching state and federal funds — asked voters to approve a similar measure.
- That measure needed two-thirds voter approval, but received only 58.3% approval.
Yes, but: Since Measure G reached the ballot by collecting enough signatures through a citizens initiative — sponsored by local labor unions and transportation construction companies — it needed to receive only 50% approval.
State of play: Nearly all of the money from TransNet, SANDAG's existing sales tax, is expected to go to paying off loans the agency took out for previous projects through 2035.
- Significantly increasing bus service, building new trolley lines or improving managed freeway lanes would rely on money from Measure G.
- Those projects are central to the region's plan to reduce its carbon footprint, as required by state emissions standards.
What's next: County officials will have until Dec. 5 to certify the election results.