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Measure B1 transportation tax appears defeated
Community college, zoo measures also falling short

by Jeb Bing

A measure that would have doubled Alameda County's transportation sales tax to a full 1 cent appears to have been defeated.

Measure B1 and two other hotly-contested ballot measures affecting the Tri-Valley are still trailing by narrow margins in updated results announced shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Alameda County Registrar of Voters Dave Macdonald said on Monday that Tuesday's results probably would be the last significant update before the results are finalized and certified on Dec. 4 but he couldn't be reached for comment late Tuesday on whether any more ballots remain to be counted.

McDonald reported that the count so far of vote-by-mail and previously uncounted provisional ballots showed Measure B1 had received 339,226 favorable votes, or 66.19% against 173,274 votes, or 33.81%.

A total of 66.6% of all votes cast in the election, or two-thirds, is needed to pass the measure.

The county's transportation sales tax was first passed in 1986. Measure B1 would make that tax permanent and increase it from a half-cent to a full 1 cent.

Two other local tax measures requiring two-thirds majority votes to pass also appear to have failed.

Measure I, which is a $28 per parcel tax that would provide $5.6 million per year to both Las Positas and Chabot colleges, has a total of 126,408 favorable votes, or 62.17%, against 76,907 No votes, or 37.83%

Measure A1, a countywide measure to raise funds for the Oakland Zoo, is also falling slightly short of the two-thirds margin, with results showing it has received 329,259 favorable votes, or 62.62%, against 196,575 No votes, or 37.38%.