Atherton City Council
July 24, 2025

Regional Transit Measure
SamTrans Board Meeting | Jessica Epstein, Director
Government and Community Affairs| July 2, 2025
• SB 63 Timeline
• Key Decisions
• Pros v. Cons of Joining Regional Measure and Options
• Agency Funding Information
• Potential Expenditure Plans
• Measure A Potential Impacts
• Proposed Agreements
• Next Steps
2 AGENDA
3 SB 63 Timeline
• June 2 – Passed Senate
• Currently with Assembly, first to Assembly Transportation and then to Assembly Revenue and Taxation
• June 9 – July 18 – Must be heard in policy committees during these dates • July 2 and 10 – SamTrans and TA board meetings with polling data presentation • July 7 – Assembly Transportation Committee
• July 14 – Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee
• Late July – TA and C/CAG vote on whether to recommend the San Mateo County Transit District (SMCTD) opts in
• August 6 – SMCTD vote on whether to opt in
• August 11 – Deadline to opt in
• August 29 – If it passes policy committees, deadline to pass Assembly Appropriations • September 9 – Last day the bill can be amended
• September 12 – Deadline to pass legislature
• October 12 – Deadline for Governor to act on bills
4 Key Decisions
Should San Mateo County…
Opt-in or not:
• If yes, at what amount: ¼ or ½ cent
• If no, develop a new plan for SamTrans to fund Caltrain's $32M annual operating deficit obligation for FY27-FY34 and beyond
If opt-in, fund one or more of the following agencies/programs and at what amount:
• BART
• MUNI
• MTC-lead Transit Transformation
• Other public transit
• CALTRAIN: SMC must fund share of Caltrain as a JPB member 5 Pros and Cons to Joining the Regional Measure
Pro:
• Fastest injection of emergency funds to preserve Caltrain operations and fulfill SMCTD’s obligation as JPB partner
• Most likely to earn voter approval: potential Citizen’s Initiative 50% +1 vote threshold • Best way to protect Measure A reauthorization: renewal without raising taxes • Preserves Measure A's infrastructure focus (e.g. local street and pothole repair, safety at highway interchanges, bicycle/pedestrian improvements, grade separations, railroad "state of good repair" capital improvements)
• Helps preserve BART and Muni service in San Mateo County Con:
• Raises taxes by ¼ or ½ cent in 2026
• Less appetite for other local tax measures
• If passed, either 9 or 11 SMC cities will have sales tax over 10% Measure A ½ cent sales tax currently generates approximately $120M per year • Regional Measure:
• Join at ¼ cent – generates $60M
• Join at ½ cent – generates $120M
• Measure A:
• Renew at existing ½ cent rate – generates $120M
• Renew at ½ cent and increase by ⅛ cent to ⅝ cents – generates $150M 6 SMC Ballot Measure Options
After SamTrans, BART has the highest annual boardings in San Mateo County, followed by Caltrain and Muni
• SamTrans – 10M+
• BART – 3M+
• Caltrain – 2.3M
• Muni – 2.2M
7 What public transit systems do
San Mateo County riders use?
8 Muni Routes Serving
San Mateo County
Muni service in San Mateo County:
• Muni provides nine routes to/from Daly City
SamTrans service in San Francisco:
• SamTrans provides two routes to Transbay
Center with limited local stops and two
routes to Mission and 1st in downtown San
Franciso with one being late night service
• One route to Stonestown Galleria
9 Pros and Cons: Joining at ¼ cent
Pros:
• Provides additional revenues
• Limits tax burden (and how much we can fund)
• Could fully cover Caltrain's projected deficit, may need help from Measure A • Provides some limited financial support to BART and Muni for service in San Mateo County
• Provides some protection for Measure A infrastructure investments Cons:
• Nine cities will have tax rates higher than 10%
• Lower contributions to BART/Muni could provide fewer service commitments • No return-to-source for SMCTD
• No transit transformation funds
10 Pros and Cons: Joining at ½ cent
Pro:
• Fully and independently funds SMC share of Caltrain's needs • Provides significant, flexible return-to-source funds to SMCTD for public transit needs, like:
o SamTrans one-time capital investments
o Preserves SamTrans services for the transit dependent o Protects against operational deficits
o Other local priorities
• Provides contributions to Muni and BART service in San Mateo County • Better protects against Muni and BART service reductions in San Mateo County • Provides some funding for transit transformation
• Best protects Measure A infrastructure investments
Con
• Further limits appetite for local tax measures
• Eleven cities will have tax rates higher than 10%
• Higher potential for overreliance on a 10-to-15-year measure 11 Potential Funding Ranges
Agency Potential SMC Share Context
Caltrain SMC share - $32M*
- Required to fund, JPB Member
- *32M placeholder pending JPB negotiations
- $75M annual deficit
BART Potential range $25M - $32M
- No obligation to
independently fund BART
- Pandemic fare loss $340M
- 10% of all day boardings for BART originate in SMC (includes SFO) - 8% of BART riders reside in SMC
- SMC receives sales tax revenue from SFO
MUNI Potential range $5M - $10M
- No obligation to
independently fund Muni
- $360M annual deficit
- 1.4% of all day boardings for Muni originate in SMC
- 3% of Muni riders reside in SMC (small sample size in survey) - 2.2M annual boardings in SMC; just below Caltrain
- Multiple pandemic issues caused financial impacts
MTC $9M (fare share TBD)
- Obligation TBD
- MTC shared at its June 25 meeting it needs $45M annually which may be adjusted depending on number of counties in measure - 1/5 share of $45M = $9M
- Potential pass-through to counties; contributions to be negotiated 12 Joining Regional Measure at ½ Cent
Agency $ Amount Percent
Caltrain $32M 27%
BART $32M 27%
Muni $10M 8%
MTC
- Transit Transformation with
some pass-through to SMC
$9M 8%
Return to Source
- Transit Transformation with
some pass-through to SMC
$37M 30%
Total $120M 100%
13 Joining Regional Measure at ¼ Cent - Option A
Agency $ Amount Percent
Caltrain $32M
- Full funding
53%
BART $23M 38%
Muni $5M 8%
Total $60M 100%
14 Joining Regional Measure at ¼ Cent - Option B
Agency $ Amount Percent
Caltrain $25M
- Meets remainder of need
through existing Measure A
42%
BART $25M 42%
Muni $5M 8%
MTC
- Transit Transformation
$5M 8%
Total $60M 100%
15 Measure A Current Funding Categories
16 Funding Caltrain via Measure A – no Regional Measure Current Measure A (2004)
Caltrain
operations
$9.6M 8%
Remaining
operations
- Shuttle,
paratransit, BART
$12M 10%
Capital $98.4M 82%
Total $120M 100%
New Measure A (2028)
Caltrain
operations
$32M 27%
Shuttle and
paratransit
$14.4M
- assumes 50%
increase in costs for
shuttle and
paratransit; no BART
12%
Capital $73.6M 61%
Total $120M 100%
No funding for SamTrans, BART, Transit Transformation, or local Quality of Life issues at transit stops
17 SMC Proposed Agreements
As the Board considers "opting-in" to the regional measure, should the Board empower staff to negotiate either side-letters or agreements with BART and Muni that address the following concerns?
• Reasonable service levels in San Mateo County
• Quality of life standards at San Mateo County BART stations: cleanliness, lighting, safety, and infrastructure (e.g. operational elevators, escalators, etc.) • New surcharges that could disproportionately impact San Mateo County riders • Unexpected contingencies (e.g. external funding windfalls, insolvency, inability to provide service)
• Focused San Mateo County expenditure updates
• Local monitoring and oversight of side-letter agreements 18 Other Priorities
Shall staff continue to advocate for the following Board priorities? • Return-to-source funds for SMCTD public transit
• Transit Transformation: limited funding, local impact • MTC oversight: only commissioners from participating counties • MTC authority: sunsets with 2026 Regional Measure
• Full funding for Caltrain
• No consolidation of Caltrain or SamTrans
Polling Review BOD meetings:
• July 10 – TA BOD meeting
Decision BOD meetings:
• July 30 – Special C/CAG BOD meeting
• July 31 – Special TA BOD meeting
• August 6 – SamTrans BOD meeting
19 Next Steps