More Sales Taxes Incoming
Given today’s Board of Supervisors vote we are almost certain to see a new 0.625% sales tax increase on the June ballot. The new tax will push overall sales...
The Union that May Have Broken California
2026 began with revelations that numerous billionaires owning upwards of $1 trillion in assets had cut ties with California just before the ball dropped on...
Supervisors’ Costly New Public Health Hire Shows They Learned Nothing from COVID
In August, the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors appointed Dr. Grant Colfax as the new Director of Health Services. This hire comes at a hefty cost to...
Contra Costa Governments Took in Over $13 Billion Last Year
In a new analysis of government financial reports, I estimated that California state and local governments collected $828 billion of revenue in 2024...
The Red Ink Behind the Green Label: The Fiscal Reality of Marin Clean Energy
Readers may wonder why a Contra Costa newsletter is covering a Marin-based utility. Well, despite the name, most Marin Clean Energy customers are in our...
With Fewer 18-Year Olds, Should California Invest More in Public Colleges?
As we prepare to host Contra Costa Community College Board President Andy Li on December 9th (Register Here for the Zoom Meeting at 12pm), I wanted to share...
The Flawed Bay Area Regional Plan and What You Can Do About It
Plan Bay Area 2050+ is a new draft update to our region’s long-range transportation, housing, economic, and environmental plan, developed by the Metropolitan...
With a New Transit Tax on the Horizon, Hear from Your BART Director
We have a timely event for you this month. As BART and other local transit agencies face a fiscal crisis arising from lower ridership and the exhaustion of...
Appealing Your Property Valuation / The Fight for Suburbia
Real estate values in Contra Costa have been declining recently. Although that’s bad news for property owners, it creates a silver lining for some of us: the...
Thoughts on Prop 50 / Walnut Creek Sales Tax
Contra Costa Taxpayers Association recently voted to oppose Proposition 50. Executive Committee member Mark Fernwood captures our concerns. Concerns with...
An Expensive War on Driving
Bay Area planners have launched numerous projects aimed at making driving more difficult. This effort, often known as “traffic calming” and “road diets” has...
Petitions Circulating for New Tax Limit Measure
Take Contra Costa Transportation Survey for a Chance to Win $100 Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) is developing a Countywide Transportation Plan....
Danville Ranks First in Fiscal Health
Danville is Contra Costa County’s most fiscally healthy municipality according to an analysis of audited financial statements for the 2024 fiscal year. The...
Voter ID / Unifying School Districts
To Address Lamorinda School District Financial Challenges, We Should Consider Unification The communities of Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga, and the parts of...
The Price of Failure in Education
This is an excerpt from the forthcoming book from one of the speakers at our July 25th meeting. Gus Mattammal, a full-time educator for 22 years, owns...
Zoning Alone Cannot Explain Unaffordable Bay Area Housing
For every complex problem, there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. – H.L. Mencken Abundance advocates and California YIMBYs believe that we can...
County Guaranteed Income Program a Misuse of Taxpayer Money
"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." Our Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors, feeling...
Water/Sewer Rate Hike, Urban Limit Line, and More
While we focused on the Acalanes Union High School District parcel tax measure this Spring (which was defeated), many other things have been happening around...
Acalanes Union Superintendent to Address CoCoTax at July Meeting
CoCoTax led the successful opposition to Measure T, a proposed $130 parcel tax that would have increased with inflation. The measure fell well short of the...
Contra Costa Assembly Member Undermines State Pensions
Assembly Member Anamarie Ávila Farías, who represents a large portion of Contra Costa County, is the co-author of a fiscally irresponsible pension measure,...