No on Another Forever Tax

 $75 million tax: City officials claim this plan is a cheap alternative to a standalone library. In reality, residents will pay at least $75 million over 30 years, and there’s no guarantee it ends then.

A forever tax that grows every year: The tax starts at 17 cents per square foot, but the City Council can raise it every year without voter approval, and there’s no guaranteed end date. How much will you pay this year? How much do you think you’ll pay in 5 years?

The tax will fall on renters too: Landlords aren’t going to just cover the tax increase. They are going to pass it on to their tenants with even higher rents every year.

A developer handout disguised as a library project: Taxpayers would cover part of the BART Plaza construction costs upfront, plus tens of millions in interest payments, benefiting private developers more than the public.

No guarantee the library will actually get built—or that this is enough money: Even if the measure passes, delays or cost overruns could mean years before a library is actually built and the tax could grow while you wait.

Parking will get worse: The Plaza area is already congested. It is going to get a lot worse when the parking lots are replaced by 700 apartments. People visiting the library will have to battle with shoppers and BART commuters for very limited parking and pay for it each time.

Hits seniors hardest: Forty percent of El Cerrito residents are 50 years and older. Many seniors live on fixed incomes. This measure is a substantial new annual expense—on top of rising costs for food, utilities, and healthcare—that they will have to pay forever.