Measure B1—a half-cent sales tax increase that would go to fund transportation projects in Alameda County—appears to have lost by the tiniest of margins.
Because the measure earmarks a sales tax for specific expenditures, it requires a 2/3 majority— 66.7% of the vote — to pass. When the final precinct reported in early Wednesday morning, 65.54% had voted in favor of the tax increase. That means the measure may have lost by a 1% margin.
It is unclear whether the tallies include absentee and provisional ballots.
Measure B1 would have made permanent the existing half-cent sales tax (now set to expire in March 2022), and add another half cent to create a one-cent sales tax expected to raise $7.8 billion over the next 30 years. It would fund spending on freeways and streets, public transit, and bike and pedestrian improvements, as well as helping pay for extending BART to the East Bay city of Livermore. Alameda County is home to many East Bay cities, including Oakland, Berkeley, Fremont and Hayward.
More when we have it.
