CA: Citizen initiative gathers signatures for half-cent sales tax to support Santa Cruz Metro

Local volunteers are working to put a tax measure on the ballot this winter that would go to supporting Santa Cruz Metro and will be holding a campaign kickoff event this week.

Supporters of the Friends of Santa Cruz Metro ballot initiative are actively gathering signatures to place a half-cent sales tax on the November ballot. If passed, the revenue would be used to maintain service levels that were expanded in recent years while broadening free ridership eligibility criteria, according to a release from the group.

Friends of Santa Cruz Metro, an independent citizen group not affiliated with the local transportation agency, will host the official campaign launch event at noon Friday at 444 Front St. in Santa Cruz where Metro is actively working to build a new station and housing hub. So far, the campaign has gathered 2,000 of the approximately 10,500 signatures that are needed to send the measure to a countywide vote in November.

If the initiative meets the requirements to appear on all county ballots in November, county Clerk Tricia Webber told the Sentinel that, as a citizens’ initiative, the measure would need a simple majority approval from voters to pass.

If approved, the half-cent increase would be imposed starting April 1, 2027, according to the advocacy group, and it would apply to retailers in both incorporated and unincorporated county territory. An approved measure means that the sales tax in Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley and Watsonville will increase from 9.75% to 10.25%. The rate in unincorporated Santa Cruz County would rise from 9.5% to 10% while Capitola would increase from 9.25% to 9.75%.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the widespread ridership deficits and financial impacts it caused to public transit agencies across the state, Santa Cruz Metro launched a large slate of service and frequency improvements through its Reimagine Metro initiative. The comprehensive program overhaul, which rolled out from 2023 through 2025, resulted in meaningful ridership gains, especially among local youth and students at UC Santa Cruz and Cabrillo.

Metro Board Chair Manu Koenig told the Sentinel that ridership is up approximately 40% since the Reimagine Metro program hit local roads. He was especially encouraged by the Youth Cruz Free Program that has provided free rides on fixed routes for kindergarten through 12th grade students since 2023 and has resulted in a 400% ridership increase among that cohort.

“We really want to try to make the bus free for as many people as possible,” said Koenig, who has endorsed the initiative and signed the notice of intent to circulate the petition. “Just think about how transformative it would be if we saw a 400% increase in senior ridership, or a 400% increase in people who are commuting on the bus.”

However, funding from the state’s Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program that made Metro’s service expansion possible will soon dry up. Metro spokesperson Danielle Frost wrote in an email to the Sentinel that the program will expire in early 2027, meaning, if new ongoing operating revenue is not secured, Metro would be forced to reduce service by approximately 35-40%.

The service reductions could begin as early as summer of next year, Frost wrote. More than 100 employees could also face layoffs, and the Youth Cruz Free Program would be at risk of discontinuance.

Among the challenges that get to the root of Metro’s fiscal woes, according to Koenig, are inflationary pressures and the high cost of housing. Meanwhile, stagnant revenues have prevented Metro from softening the blow.

But Koenig added that Metro is far from being alone in its fiscal struggles and public transit agencies across the state are facing fiscal cliffs. State leaders are seeking to fund the robust Bay Area Rapid Transit District by placing a tax measure called Connect Bay Area on the November ballot. The measure would equate to a half-cent increase in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties and a one-cent sales tax rise in San Francisco.

Meanwhile, Koenig and initiative supporters hope the half-cent proposal can keep momentum from Reimagine Metro moving forward. Included within the measure’s text is a commitment to establish a system that allows seniors and people with disabilities to ride fixed routes for free while aiming to do the same for low-income riders and commuters. Koenig added that a robust bus network will also support future affordable housing developments, as grant-givers often look for projects that are close to rapid public transit hubs.

“The better the transit in our community, the more affordable housing we’re going to see built,” said Koenig. “It’s not by accident that both the ( Pacific Station Complex in Santa Cruz) and the Watsonville (Transit Center) have affordable housing built into them.”

If you go

• What: Friends of Santa Cruz Metro ballot initiative campaign kickoff.
• When: Noon Friday.
• Where: 444 Front St. in Santa Cruz.

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