Measure B1 Road Tax Fails By A Whisker

It's another lesson in how much each vote counts.

Nearly two weeks after the November election, Measure B1 has missed the required two-thirds passage by several hundred votes, the Alameda County Registrar of Voters announced Monday.

Measure B1 would have increased the county's transportation sales tax, first passed in 1986, from a half-cent to one cent.

It would also have made the hike permanent. The money raised by the measure would have been spent on roads, freeways, pedestrian, bicycle and other transit-related projects.

It garnered 350,899 votes, or 66.53 percent of the ballots cast on Nov. 6.

The tally was so close that the registrar could not determine the outcome until now. 

News of the measure's failure comes as a new report reveals the poor conditions of roads in communities like San Leandro that had counted on Measure B1 revenues to do catch-up repairs.

Measure B1 missed by a few hundred votes out of the 527,403 ballots cast. Is the two-thirds hurdle the tyranny of the minority or a check on excessive taxation?

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