I was glad to read that the vote on yet another sales tax increase to fund “Faster Bay Area” has been deferred. Over the last several elections, voters in Santa Clara County have passed multiple tax and fee increases including gas taxes, two bridge toll increases, three VTA sales taxes, Santa Clara County’s Measure A 1/8 cent sales tax, the state prop 30 ¼ cent sales tax and the 2010 Measure B Vehicle Registration Fee of $10. Additionally, we’re on the hook to pay back numerous state bond issues including high speed rail, the Proposition 1 water bond and the infrastructure bonds of 2006.

All this nickel and diming has contributed into making the Bay Area a horribly expensive place to live; especially for people of modest means, who must pay the greatest percentage of their income in these regressive taxes and fees. Each increase by itself does not amount to much but the cumulative effect is to add to the unaffordability of the region.

At the beginning of the current virus scare, tech companies instructed their employees to work from home which greatly reduced traffic congestion. Instead of raising sales taxes YET AGAIN, why not tell tech employees to work from home when the crises is over?