HomeMy WebLinkAbout3/5/2024 Item 7a, Justesen
Erik Justesen <
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:Item 7a
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Dear SLO City Council Members,
I am writing to encourage you to support the SLOCOG Board initiative to bring a Countywide Self-Help Sales Tax
Measure and Draft Transportation Investment Plan forward to the ballot in November 2024. In 2016 our city
supported Measure J which was narrowly defeated by voters. Here is why l believe we as a City should support this
SLOCOG initiative again:
1. SLO County is one of only a handful of remaining counties that is not a Self-Help County. 88 % of the State
population is served by such a funding program providing vital resources in an ever-dwindling funding
environment, SLO County residents are among the remaining 12% of the population without access to
these funds.
2. Without this tax measure, it is guaranteed that our roads will deteriorate further, and important highway
and road improvements will not be made. There simply are no other viable source of funds available.
3. Our local economic vitality, ability to attract and retain employers, build the housing we so desperately
need and invest in crucial climate action initiatives will be severely limited.
4. The ability to leverage this stable funding source to attract other funds through a local match would enable
us to more than double the amount of funding.
5. Much like our current Measure G, this tax initiative would ensure that tourists and visitors who use our
transportation system would pay their fair share of this tax.
For these reasons and others, I encourage you to take a “rising tide lifts all boats” approach, ensuring that each
community in our county receives a fair proportion of the funding benefit. If we attempt to pull more of the funds
away from other parts of our county, we risk getting 100% of nothing. Let’s keep our eye on the bigger picture and
advocate for a winning strategy with SLOCOG, then lean in to do the work enabling its passage.
Thanks for considering my comments.
Erik Justesen
ERIK JUSTESEN
CEO + President
Direct: (805) 903-1208 | Mobile: (805) 431-6032
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