Changing Plans: Flexibility, Accountability, and Oversight of Local Option Sales Tax Implementation in California (brief)

Abstract

Local option sales tax (LOST) revenue accounts for a large and growing share of local transportation spending in California and throughout the United States. However, research has yet to explore how these measures fare when implemented. To enhance their popularity at the voting booth, LOSTs almost always include an expenditure plan detailing how revenue will be spent during the lifetime of each measure. Local authorities charged with administering LOST measures are often able to amend these expenditure plans — and, therefore, project lists — during implementation, raising important questions concerning the degree to which local transportation authorities are accountable to the public. While some flexibility is needed to respond to unforeseen circumstances (i.e., lower-than-expected revenue), too much flexibility may allow local officials to implement projects or programs inconsistent with the will of voters. Of the 51 California LOST measures that have been enacted since 1976 for transportation funding purposes, at least 84 ordinance and/or expenditure plan amendments have been made, resulting in at least 68 substantive changes to project lists. In general, these findings suggest that most measures seem to achieve a relative balance between needed flexibility and public accountability, ensuring that amendments take place infrequently and that such changes tend to preserve the measure’s initial intention

About the Project

This capstone project was completed in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Master of Urban & Regional Planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.