Glazer: As BART warned of financial doom, it ramped up spending, refused to right-size agency
Published: September 25, 2026 at 4:00 AM PDT | UPDATED: October 1, 2026 at 5:07 PM PDT
By Steve Glazer
As voters evaluate Measure RTM, the proposed sales tax increase on the ballot in five Bay Area counties, the important question is not whether transit is valuable and important. It is.
The key question is whether the region’s transit agencies, especially BART, have managed their finances in a prudent way to justify receiving more money from a new tax — a tax that disproportionally impacts our poorest residents. They have not. That is why I am voting no.
BART, the transit agency that would receive the most money from the new tax, has been the most irresponsible. BART leaders have known about their “fiscal cliff” for years. But during that time, they have refused to make the difficult financial decisions to right-size their agency. Indeed, from fiscal years 2021 to 2025, as the agency was warning of impending financial doom, it increased spending by 42% nominally, or nearly 25% in real costs. Adjusting for inflation, BART’s operations budget is as much today as it was in 2019 — even though ridership is about half of pre-pandemic levels.
Pay for even the highest-paid employees has increased. Affordability is a serious issue in the Bay Area, but that doesn’t touch more than 100 BART executives and staff making $298,000 or greater in wages, even before adding in health and retirement benefits, according to the State Controller’s 2025 report. Most received raises during this so-called fiscal crisis.
BART produces, at taxpayer and ratepayer expense, charts and data claiming cost savings from unfilled positions and schedule efficiencies. It’s puffery, using one-time actions and selective anecdotes instead of real financial reforms. It’s the cartoon picture of an out-of-shape runner who wants credit for tying their shoes.
Even if BART and the other transit agencies were deserving of new revenue, they are trying to put the burden on low-income folks rather than the wealthiest companies that benefit from the region’s transit systems. A senior, student or person on a fixed income pays the same sales tax rate as a billionaire.
Measure RTM would increase the sales tax in San Francisco by one cent on the dollar in San Francisco and by a half-cent in Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. In nine Bay Area cities, that would bring the total sales tax rate to at least 11%, costing you $1.10 in taxes for a burger and a drink.
Importantly, this proposal is making a transit tax a priority over all the other needs in our communities: school funding, public safety, fire protection and even bailout funds for cities and school districts on the brink of bankruptcy.
The smart but difficult path that BART should have taken would have been to freeze new programs and staffing when the crisis was apparent. Run shorter trains on a reduced schedule. Negotiate fairly with employee groups for salary reductions to avoid future layoffs. End perks like lifetime free BART rides for employees and their families. Stop buying swag. Cut board member salaries by 20%.
Voters should ask:
• Have BART and the other transit agencies made all the hard but necessary reductions to right-size their systems?
• Should transit funding take priority over money for schools, roads, fire, law enforcement and health and safety net programs?
• Is a sales tax increase a better funding source than one based on high earners or corporations?
• Do you trust that the new tax will be spent correctly?
If you answer yes to all four questions, then the measure deserves your support. If you answered no to one or more, you should seriously consider voting no and waiting for a proposal that is more consistent with your values.
If this measure fails, and it should, BART should prove that it is worthy of added public investment by making the hard decisions to cut excess spending, institute needed reforms and rebuild public trust.
Voting against Measure RTM is not saying no to transit; it’s saying no to irresponsible leadership and the new tax burdens BART and other transit agencies want to place on those who can least afford it.