Bay Area officials seek stop-gap measure to avoid transit cuts

Bay Area lawmakers on Monday were looking to divert a funding crisis for Bay Area public transit agencies.

BART, Muni, AC Transit and Caltrain are threatened by massive cuts if a funding solution cannot be found.

Senate Bill 63, the Connect Bay Area Act, proposes a sales tax in three Bay Area counties – San Francisco, Contra Costa and Alameda. San Mateo and Santa Clara counties will have an opportunity to opt in by July 31.

The precise tax rates for each county will be negotiated and finalized by the end of July, which also is the deadline for transit agencies and local governments to submit a spending plan to allocate revenue generated by the sales tax.

Revenue will not begin coming in until 2027.

In the meantime, local officials also are calling for a stop-gap allocation from the state budget in the amount of $2 billion, $800 million of which would go to the Bay Area transit systems to avert service cuts.