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San Benito
March 18, 2024

County board supports transportation spending plan

San Benito County supervisors Tuesday showed support for a transportation plan for use of revenue from the proposed 1 percent sales tax on November’s ballot.

Council of San Benito County Governments Executive Director Mary Gilbert presented the plan and said the agency would like to see more than $700 million in investments.

Gilbert talked about highway construction but also mentioned a poor pavement index rating here in San Benito County.

The tax headed to the November ballot would need a two-third approval from voters. Gilbert noted how the half-cent tax proposed on a 2016 ballot had nearly 60 percent support. She presented the traffic plan, which gained unanimous support from the board, and said she’d be back in August to gain approval to place the question on the ballot.

COG also plans to approach the City of Hollister and City of San Juan Bautista for similar approvals.

“It’s significantly worse than the statewide average,” Gilbert said, noting how $350 million is needed to address the problem today.

The tax would be applicable throughout San Benito County, so it would add another 1 percent on top of the 8.25 percent currently in effect for Hollister.

Supervisors who spoke were supportive of the tax effort.

“It’s not out of the realm of thinking that 9.5 percent is what these neighboring counties have in place now,” Supervisor Anthony Botelho said.

Read a summary of the spending plan here: https://sanbenito.novusagenda.com/agendapublic/CoverSheet.aspx?ItemID=3148&MeetingID=226

See the entire transportation plan here: Final_TSIP_-_June_7_2018_-_Reduced_Size_PDF_for_Email

-Kollin Kosmicki

SOCIAL MEDIA

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