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Transportation tax measure still undecided, but Measures I, A1 lose
Las Positas College parcel tax just short of two-thirds majority vote

by Jeb Bing

Although Gov. Brown's Proposition 30 tax measure won voter approval Tuesday, other measures of key interest to Pleasanton and Tri-Valley voters failed at the ballot box.

Prop 30, which will raise $6 billion annually for education and the state budget by increasing the sales tax by a quarter-cent for four years and raising income taxes on the wealthy by up to 3% for seven years, was heavily supported by voters in the Bay Area and Los Angeles, although voters in the Central Valley and other inland areas rejected it.

Measures B1, a transportation tax which would double Alameda County's sales tax to a full penny, was failing Wednesday morning with all precincts reporting, receiving 230,328, or 65.5% of the votes cast against 121,113, or 34.4% of votes opposed to the measure, which required a two-thirds majority vote to pass.

That could change, however. Alameda County election officials said the uncounted ballots from those who dropped their absentee ballots off at polling places Tuesday could account for as much as 25% of the total votes cast and could change the Measure B1 outcome.

However, Measure A1 and Measure I were clearly defeated.

Measure I would have assessed a $28 parcel tax on owners of single-family homes that would have lasted for six years and funded Las Positas College. It received 87,767 favorable votes, or 61.5%, against 54,765 votes against the measure, or 38.4%. It failed to receive the two-thirds majority vote needed to pass.

Voters also failed to provide the two-thirds majority vote needed to pass Measure A1, which would have levied a $12 parcel tax on Alameda County property owners until 2037 to fund improvements and expansion projects at the Oakland Zoo. The final tally had 225,940 votes, or 62.6% for the measure, with 134,441, or 37.3% opposed.