First Measure C passed 1988, expires 2009.
Contra Costa“C”1988
Sponsors- Developers; Slow-Growth Advocates
Planning Style- 1986: Technically-driven, with emphasis on geographic equity and polls.
1988: Consensus-building and outreach to former opponents; addition of growth management plan.
Time to Approval- 44 months
In 1988, Contra Costa voters with a 58% approval passed Measure C, a half-percent transportation sales tax that distributed approximately $740 million for transportation over the 20-year life of the measure. The vast majority of the funds went towards building and maintaining highways and roads plus extending BART from Concord to Pittsburg/Baypoint.
The first Measure C passed at the ballot box largely because of the addition of an innovative “Growth Management Program” (GMP). Though proponents claimed the measure’s transportation projects would “right past wrongs” while the GMP would ensure that future development would pay its own way, the GMP turned out to be largely ineffective at reining in sprawl.
The revenues derived from the half-cent sales tax expended for the transportation projects and programs set forth in the Contra Costa Transportation Authority's adopted transportation expenditure plan ("TEP"). The Contra Costa Transportation Authority has adopted a new TEP (included in the voter information handbook) to supplement the original 1988 TEP. The new TEP sets forth transportation projects and programs, including extending and improving the BART system, adding a fourth bore to the Caldecott Tunnel and improving Highway 24, widening and improving Interstates 80 and 680 and Highway 4, maintaining and improving local streets and roads, and improving transit for seniors and disabled persons.