I am writing to express the Napa Valley Vintners' (NVV) support for Measure U, which is on the ballot in Napa County. The NVV Board did not arrive at its support lightly. We recognize that our members and the community are concerned about the economy, and therefore, the NVV Board is not supporting new taxes.
Measure U would not raise taxes. Instead, Measure U would replace Measure T, an existing half-cent sales tax for streets and roads maintenance, but it will improve how the money is spent. Currently the transportation sales tax is distributed to Napa's cities, town, and county quarterly. The amount of money each jurisdiction receives is often insufficient to fund most road projects and the revenues are banked until sufficient funds are available.
The new measure will allow the Napa Valley Transportation Authority, the agency that oversees the funding, to issue debt to bring the funds forward. This will allow the cities, town, and county to deliver a lot more road projects now instead of in the future when the cost of road construction will be much more expensive. Measure U will also provide about $56 million to help fund traffic improvement projects so that our residents, workers and visitors do not have to sit in traffic.
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I urge your readers to vote Yes on Measure U. It's a smarter way to spend the money that we have without costing taxpayers more.
Ted Hall Co-Founder, Long Meadow Ranch Chairman, Napa Valley Vintners Transportation Subcommittee
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