Coronado residents witnessed something notable at the City Council meeting on May 5th. Three Council Members, Mayor Duncan, and Council Members Fleming and Purvis, took a principled stand to not support or endorse California Assembly Bill 2484, which seeks to empower the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) to put forward a ballot initiative to impose a permanent 0.5% sales tax in its service area (including Coronado).
The bill and desired tax increase ballot measure are part of an orchestrated strategy by MTS to avoid a self-described “fiscal cliff” crisis, with perpetual taxpayer bailout dollars estimated to yield MTS over a quarter of a billion dollars annually if passed.
The proposed tax increase is fundamentally regressive, in that it would impose a larger burden on lower-income consumers, and its author is David Alvarez (State Assembly Member, District 80) who represents Barrio Logan, National City, Chula Vista, and large areas of south San Diego.
Equally shocking as the size of the regressive are two incredibly odious aspects of the Alvarez bill:
1) It allows MTS to propose a sales tax hike and only need a simple majority vote to pass (by cloaking it as a citizens-led initiative). This flouts longstanding state law requiring government-proposed tax increases to achieve a “high bar” two-thirds supermajority to pass. Current law exists precisely because local agencies are not neutral parties when they seek tax increases for their own benefit.
2) It seeks to exempt the MTS tax hike from counting against the 2% statewide cap on combined local transactions and use taxes. Translation: it seeks to bypass existing law that prohibits unchecked layering of special-purpose taxes that would otherwise drive California’s already high sales tax burdens into the stratosphere.
Objectively, AB 2484 is not a bill written with good governance principles. It seeks to let MTS avoid tackling harsh fiscal realities, many of its own making; including revenue shortfalls (from ridership levels, avoiding fare increases, and tackling fare evasion losses); lofty strategic priorities amidst documented budget pressures; ballooning labor and pension costs; and over-reliance on expiring federal assistance.
During the May 5th City Council meeting, a member of the public rose to voice his opinion on the MTS bill. His name was Tim. He told the Council that he’d come to the meeting “just to listen” to the proceedings, but that the Council’s discussion about the bill “got” him. He said, “California’s gotten out of hand. And Coronado used to be very fiscally responsible. Not only for the Island, but they tried to set a tone for the state. And I keep hearing today, how we’re ok with just one more expense, just make it available [the tax] for one more expense. I’m not ok with that. I want you to know that… the answer is “no” absolutely “no.” We have to live within our means. We have to budget a little differently. And it just has to stop.”
Recently, on this Editorial Page, The Coronado Democratic Club President (Laura Wilkinson Sinton) voiced umbrage at the notion that residents and workers in San Diego (including Coronado) are feeling tapped out under the strains of tax and fee fatigue. She caustically wrote: “We do not indulge Republican – or Trump’s – fantasy lies, and Coronado is not in danger of fantasy taxes either.”
Well, AB 2484 isn’t a fantasy, and it really does seek to empower MTS to raise the sales tax in its service areas — including Coronado.
Public comments by a current 2026 candidate for Coronado City Council, who spoke just a few weeks ago from the same City Hall podium Tim did, were equally real and advocated for a new Coronado tax on short-term rentals. The candidate stated: “It seems like Coronado could be leaving a lot of money on the table by not charging taxes on vacation rentals, the legal ones of course… many cities have been doing it for years and already have a framework that we could replicate and implement very quickly.”
Many locals plugged into the 2024 election remember well then-City Council candidate Wilkinson Sinton being asked “Would you support a policy or tax on properties that are rented out as STRs that would go to better support city infrastructure and permanent residents?” — to which she replied she’d favor new local taxes on short-term rentals and that “Vancouver British Columbia actually has a vacancy tax too, so that’s under consideration.»
I just opened up the news and read that local labor unions and environmental advocacy groups “unloaded a truckload of boxes” containing enough signatures to place a measure on this November’s ballot to raise the County sales tax by 0.5% — nearly $400 million annually. The tax hike revenue would go to the County Board of Supervisors to decide how to best use the funds for social services programs, staffing for food assistance and healthcare programs, to mitigate impacts of the cross-border sewage crisis, wildfire prevention, public safety/911 response, and other County safety services.
That latest tax hike initiative isn’t a fantasy. Add it to the long list — in the double digits — of new tax increases that have been officially proposed, floated by local governments and agencies, or via voter initiatives in the San Diego County region since the 2024 election.
Back to Tim. I don’t know him or his political leanings. But I do know this: he wasn’t lying. He spoke some hard-hitting truths to our City Council. He used his voice to advocate against an MTS sales tax hike, for common sense and accountability in how the San Diego transit system runs itself, and for Coronado to lead our region in principles of good governance.
Coronado has a long record of being a well-managed City, and has never treated its citizens’ wallets as an inexhaustible resource. Thank you again Mayor Duncan, Council Member Fleming, and Council Member Purvis for lending your voices and casting your votes for fiscal responsibility and against relentless tax and spend pressures faced by your constituents.
Respectfully,
VOL. 116, NO. 19 – May 13, 2026