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Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority

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The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority , more commonly known simply as the Valley Transportation Authority ( VTA ), is a special district responsible for public transit services, congestion management , specific highway improvement projects, and countywide transportation planning for Santa Clara County , California . It serves San Jose, California , and the surrounding Silicon Valley . It is one of the governing parties for the Caltrain commuter rail line that serves the county. In 2023, the VTA's public transportation services had a combined ridership of 26,610,000, or about 94,100 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2024.

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83-710: In 1969, Santa Clara County had three private bus companies, all of which were in serious financial trouble: Peninsula Transit, San Jose City Lines , and Peerless Stages. The California Legislature enacted the Santa Clara County Transit District Act in 1969, which allowed the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors to place a ballot measure asking county voters if the Santa Clara County Transit District (SCCTD) shall be formed. However,

166-544: A 10 percent federal sales tax on indoor tanning services, effective July 1, 2010. Unlike previous federal excise taxes, this tax is collected directly from the consumer by the seller and based on the sale price rather than a quantity. However, the new tax is selective rather than general, applying only to a specific service. Canada uses a value-added federal Goods and Services Tax with a rate of 5 percent, effective since January 1, 2008. Alberta, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut have no territorial sales taxes, so only

249-572: A Santa Clara County Grand Jury criticized the governance structure, calling it "too large, too political, too dependent on staff, too inexperienced in some cases, and too removed from the financial and operational performance of VTA." Since VTA board members are required to be elected officials, they must juggle their other duties in addition to VTA. The Grand Jury recommended that the VTA board be shrunk to five to seven members, with members either appointed solely for transportation issues or directly elected by

332-518: A city must be able to import consumers to buy goods locally. If local sales taxes are too high, consumers will travel to other areas to purchase goods. In the United States, every state with a sales tax law has a use tax component in that law applying to purchases from out-of-state mail order, catalog and e-commerce vendors, a category also known as "remote sales". As e-commerce sales have grown in recent years, noncompliance with use tax has had

415-572: A commission to study the possibility of internet taxation, but the commission did not make any formal recommendations. In a report issued in 2003, the Congressional Budget Office warned of the economic burden of a "multiplicity of tax systems, particularly for smaller firms". In an effort to reduce the burden of compliance with the tax laws of multiple jurisdictions, the Streamlined Sales Tax Project

498-402: A different manner. Generally, there are four types of electronic commerce: intermediaries, retail, business-to-business and media, all of which are affected by consumer response to sales tax. However, while consumers are technically supposed to pay a sales tax when it comes to cross state border transactions, the practicality of enforcing it is impossible. As a result, online retail stores have had

581-449: A distinct advantage in that they do not have to charge a sales tax. That has led many economists to examine consumer sensitivity when it comes to sales taxes. While some researchers have concluded a high elasticity of online purchase probability with respect to sales tax at around 2.3, others have found smaller figures of around 0.5. That means that enforcing an online sales tax would have negligible effects on aggregate sales. Economists at

664-470: A growing impact on state revenues. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that uncollected use taxes on remote sales in 2003 could be as high as $ 20.4 billion. Uncollected use tax on remote sales was projected to run as high as $ 54.8 billion for 2011. Enforcement of the tax on remote sales, however, is difficult. Unless the vendor has a physical location, or nexus , within a state, the vendor cannot be required to collect tax for that state. This limitation

747-543: A half-cent sales tax, Measure A, to help support the Santa Clara County Transit District. In 1977, the primary Overhaul and Repair Facility was built at the Cerone Yard. Also in 1977, County Supervisors decided to change the bus fleet from propane to diesel and ordered 102 buses. By 1979, three additional bus yards were built and commissioned into service. In December 1978, the SCCTD approved an affirmative action plan for

830-545: A letter to National City Lines on 8 December 1955, the company's vice president, Kenneth E. Totten, traveled to Montgomery the following week. The boycott lasted for just over a year, and cost the company $ 750,000 (equivalent to $ 8.4 million in 2023). The boycott ended only after the United States Supreme Court affirmed Browder v. Gayle , a ruling that black bus passengers had a right to sit in any publicly available seat. National City Lines acquired

913-465: A light rail or tram system, instead of bus service). This would also upgrade the existing 522 bus service to an official BRT, and rename the entire VTA-operated BRT service to VTA Rapid, differentiating it from VTA's buses division. This plan involved reducing general traffic lanes from 3 lanes in each direction which was unpopular and the plans were abandoned in January 2018. An additional rapid line,

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996-487: A number of bus lines, and paratransit service. VTA is a member agency of Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board that manages Caltrain commuter rail, providing one-third of annual operating funds and all the funding for specific improvement projects within Santa Clara County. VTA is also a member agency of Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority that manages Capitol Corridor intercity rail service. The VTA

1079-567: A sales tax could be mitigated, e.g., by excluding rent, or by exempting "necessary" items, such as food, clothing and medicines. Investopedia defines a regressive tax as "[a] tax that takes a larger percentage from low-income people than from high-income people. A regressive tax is generally a tax that is applied uniformly. This means that it hits lower-income individuals harder". Higher sales taxes have been shown to have many different effects on local economies. With higher taxes, more consumers are starting to reconsider where they shop, according to

1162-714: A solution "at significantly lower costs than traditional transit projects." Sometimes, in the winter, VTA operates a seasonal vintage trolley service called the Holly Trolley . This trolley, a joint project of the VTA and the California Trolley and Railroad Corporation , began operations in December 2012. As of December 2019, it operates between Civic Center and Convention Center stations, although it operated to San Jose Diridon station until 2018. The VTA headquarters and administration offices are next to

1245-577: A study conducted in Minnesota and Wisconsin, where the sales tax was raised on cigarettes. Effects of higher sales tax were not shown immediately in sales, but about six months after the taxes were raised. High sales taxes can be used to relieve property taxes but only when property taxes are lowered subsequently. Studies that have shown this correlation were conducted in Georgia by cities raising sales tax and lowering property taxes. To combat sales loss,

1328-435: A temporary rapid bus service until VTA officially opens a BRT transit corridor along the same route, which will upgrade the current 522 route. VTA had planned to add distinctive vehicles, separate bus-exclusive lanes on Alum Rock Avenue, El Camino Real, and Stevens Creek Boulevard, ticketing platforms separate from other buses, and possible amenities such as wait time for successive BRT buses by 2016 (making BRT behave more like

1411-509: A two-thirds majority vote. A lawsuit was filed in January 2017 by Cheriel Jensen to challenge the validity of the measure. It was initially dismissed with prejudice in July 2017, but an appeal was subsequently filed in August 2017 to the 6th District Court of Appeal. Pending a resolution, the funds collected by taxes introduced by 2016 Measure B were held in an escrow account. The appeals court upheld

1494-409: Is "imposed upon all retailers" for the "privilege of selling tangible personal property at retail". Strictly speaking, only the retailer is responsible for the payment of the tax; when a retailer adds this tax to the purchase price, the consumer is merely reimbursing the retailer by contractual agreement. When consumers purchase goods from out-of-state (in which case the seller owes no tax to California)

1577-638: Is 10.25%, consisting of 6.25% state, 1.25% city, 1.75% county and 1% regional transportation authority. Chicago also has the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority tax on food and beverage of 1% (which means eating out is taxed at 11.25%). For Baton Rouge , Louisiana , the tax is 9.45%, which is 4.45% state & 5% local. In Los Angeles it is 9.5%, which is 7.25% state & 2.25% county. Sales and use taxes in California are made up of various state, county and city taxes. The state tax

1660-564: Is approximately 13% and the Authority is focused on increasing the ratio. VTA contemplated service reductions in 2003 to address its budget problems. Instead, VTA changed routes to respond to customer demands and by 2008 saw increased ridership numbers. In keeping with 2000 Measure A, VTA needed additional funding to deliver the 6-mile-long (9.7 km) second phase of the BART Silicon Valley extension to Santa Clara, including

1743-402: Is difficult to enforce the taxes on electronic commerce especially for digital goods that trade across different countries. The effect that a sales tax has on consumer and producer behavior is rather large. The price elasticity of demand for online products is high, meaning that consumers are price sensitive and their demand will significantly change with small changes in price. This means that

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1826-409: Is levied on the sale of a good to its final end-user and is charged every time that item is sold retail. Sales to businesses that later resell the goods are not charged the tax. A purchaser who is not an end-user is usually issued a " resale certificate " by the taxing authority and required to provide the certificate (or its ID number ) to a seller at the point of purchase, along with a statement that

1909-1386: Is responsible for building the Silicon Valley BART extension but is not a member of the Bay Area Rapid Transit District . As VTA covers Santa Clara County in general, it serves the major core city of San Jose (where VTA is based and headquartered), with service to the other municipalities of Campbell , Cupertino , Fremont , Gilroy , Los Altos , Los Altos Hills , Los Gatos , Milpitas , Monte Sereno , Morgan Hill , Mountain View , Palo Alto , Santa Clara , San Martin , Saratoga and Sunnyvale . Only Campbell, Milpitas, Mountain View, San Jose, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale are served by light rail. The VTA partners with Highway 17 Express to provide service to Santa Cruz and with Dumbarton Express to provide transbay service between Union City and Stanford University . VTA operates 43 regularly operating bus routes as of January 2022, including 39 regular bus routes and 4 rapid bus routes. Many of these routes connect to VTA light rail service, and Caltrain stations. In addition, VTA operates 4 express routes, 8 school trip services, 8 free shuttle routes connecting to ACE commuter rail services, and one commuter shuttle to

1992-462: The Civil War that they functioned collectively as a general sales tax. The first broad-based, general sales taxes in the United States were enacted by Kentucky and Mississippi in 1930, although Kentucky repealed its sales tax in 1936. The federal government's per-gallon tax of gasoline (beginning at one cent per gallon in 1932) and per-package tax of cigarettes ($ 1.01 per package since 2009) are

2075-752: The Great American streetcar scandal (or 'General Motors streetcar conspiracy', 'National City Lines conspiracy'). In 1948, the United States Supreme Court (in United States v. National City Lines Inc. ) permitted a change in venue to the Federal District Court in Northern Illinois . National City Lines merged with Pacific City Lines the same year. In 1949, General Motors, Standard Oil of California, Firestone and others were convicted of conspiring to monopolize

2158-633: The Montgomery Advertiser on December 3, 1955, Montgomery's Transportation Superintendent J. H. Bagley wrote: The Montgomery City Lines is sorry if anyone expects us to be exempt from any state or city law ... [w]e are sorry that the colored people blame us for any state or city ordinance which we didn't have passed." After Martin Luther King Jr. and the Montgomery Improvement Association wired

2241-552: The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development studied the effects of various types of taxes on the economic growth of developed nations within the OECD and found that sales taxes are one of the least harmful taxes for growth. Because the rate of a sales tax does not change based on a person's income or wealth, sales taxes are generally considered regressive . However, it has been suggested that any regressive effect of

2324-614: The River Oaks light rail station on North First Street in San Jose. There are four yards, three of which (Cerone, Chaboya, and North) are used for bus storage, with maintenance conducted at Cerone; the other (Guadalupe Yard) is the maintenance and storage facility for the light rail division. Besides providing transit services to residents of Santa Clara County, VTA also manages countywide highway projects that use county sales tax revenues, in conjunction with Caltrans . In this role, VTA

2407-591: The San Jose International Airport (SJC), a distance of approximately 3 miles (4.8 km). Potential SJC airport connector alignments include either an underground route following existing streets, or an aerial route partially along State Route 87 . The RFI also asked potential bidders to design a continuation to De Anza College along Stevens Creek Boulevard . One major goal of the RFI was to determine if new technologies could be used to deliver

2490-467: The Silicon Valley BART extension , which will eventually extend Bay Area Rapid Transit from its original terminus in Fremont to Santa Clara Transit Center . 2000 Measure A also included funding for light rail extensions, bus service expansion, expansion and electrification of Caltrain service, and connections from San Jose International Airport to BART , Caltrain and VTA light rail. The measure

2573-427: The 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 . MV Transportation , a for-profit agency, has been the contract paratransit broker for VTA since November 2016, after the previous broker, Outreach & Escort, was found to be overbilling the agency for its VTA Outreach service. VTA released a request for information in July 2019 to solicit concepts for a grade-separated system that would connect Diridon Station with

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2656-497: The 1992 Quill v. North Dakota decision determined that only the U.S. Congress has the authority to enact interstate taxes. Electronic commerce business can also be affected by consumption taxes. It can be separated into four categories: retail, intermediaries, business-to-business and media (Goldfarb 2008). These categories were affected varying degrees. The intermediaries were affected by the retail sales tax since it provides platforms for transitions between different parties (such as

2739-510: The 5-mile-long (8.0 km) subway tunnel through downtown San Jose. Measure B, added to the November 2016 ballot, would raise $ 6.3 billion for transit projects via a half-cent increase in sales tax. It included up to $ 1.6 billion for the BART extension, as well as funds for Caltrain electrification, grade separation, and road improvements. Voters passed the 2016 Measure B, which required

2822-462: The 568, along the current route 68 is proposed to replace the current 168 express as part of the 2021 Service Plan. This plan was delayed until February 2022 to direct resources to reducing passenger pass-ups due to capacity limits during the COVID-19 pandemic . VTA Access is the agency's paratransit service, a door-to-door shuttle service available to disabled people that meets the requirements of

2905-460: The Act did not supply any funding from the state level for the new district; SCCTD would be funded as required by issuing bonds. At the time, county voters were reluctant to raise their own taxes to support a local public transit system. The formation of the Santa Clara County Transit District was rejected in 1969 and 1970 before it was finally approved by county voters on June 6, 1972. The SCCTD took over

2988-535: The Amazon marketplace). Business-to-Business transactions will be placed in different circumstances by whether the case will be taxed in the US. Electronic commerce goods are usually not taxed the same especially across the stats in the US. Different states have their own sales tax regulations, for example, some states use their standard sales taxes law for the digital goods, and some of the states have specific laws for them. It

3071-540: The BART Silicon Valley extension to the Berryessa/North San José station , ceding operations to the Bay Area Rapid Transit District . In April 2021, the VTA suffered a ransomware attack that disabled many of the agency's computer systems, including the paratransit reservation tracker. On May 26, 2021, a mass shooting occurred at a VTA rail yard in San Jose, California . Ten people, including

3154-569: The Board of Supervisors for the new transit district. They would be advised by a commission consisting of members appointed by the cities (one member appointed by each city in the county) and five members of the public appointed by the county supervisors. SCCTD administration would be led by an executive officer. In its early years the Santa Clara County Transportation District approached the task of replacing

3237-565: The Fitzgerald brothers' bus operations, founded in Minnesota , United States, in 1920 as a modest local transport company operating two buses. Part of the Fitzgerald's operations were reorganized into a holding company in 1936, and later expanded about 1938 with equity funding from General Motors , Firestone Tire , Standard Oil of California and Phillips Petroleum for the express purpose of acquiring local transit systems throughout

3320-641: The General Manager and Chief Executive Officer (GM/CEO). General Counsel Evelynn Tran served as the interim GM/CEO while the agency searched for a permanent replacement for Nuria I. Fernandez , who was appointed Deputy Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration in January 2021. Carolyn Gonot, who had served in multiple leadership roles at VTA before leaving in 2019 to head the Utah Transit Authority ,

3403-590: The SCCTD merged with the county Congestion Management Agency to become the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (SCVTA). In December 1996, the agency adopted a shorter trade name, Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), as well as a new logo. In 1996, voters approved a half-cent general county sales tax, Measure B, and a companion list of transportation projects recommended to be funded with Measure B, called (1996) Measure A . The two measures were designed to adhere to

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3486-611: The Transportation Agency to improve the diversity of its workforce. On March 25, 1987, after a long legal battle, the U.S. Supreme Court by a 6-3 majority upheld the gender component of the plan against a civil rights challenge in Johnson v. Transportation Agency . The transit district broke ground on a new light rail system in 1986. It commenced revenue service along the Guadalupe line on December 11, 1987. With

3569-515: The United States government has never used a general sales tax, an excise tax on whiskey enacted in 1791 was one of its first fund raising efforts. The unpopularity of this tax with farmers on the western frontier led to the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794. Federal and state sales taxes in the United States remained selective, rather than general, through the 19th century. However, excise taxes were applied to so many specific commodities during

3652-467: The United States in what became known as the General Motors streetcar conspiracy . The company formed a subsidiary, Pacific City Lines in 1937 to purchase streetcar systems in the western United States . National City Lines, and Pacific City Lines were indicted in 1947 on charges of conspiring to acquire control of a number of transit companies, and of forming a transportation monopoly for

3735-659: The VTA's busiest corridor. Modeled after the Metro Rapid service in Los Angeles , rapid bus Line 522 follows most of the Line 22 route, and features limited stops, headway based schedules, low floor fleet, and signal priority along El Camino Real. However, the current rapid bus service by VTA does not fully qualify as BRT, due to the lack of separate ticketing stations and platforms, distinctive vehicles, and special lanes which allow BRT to avoid traffic jams. Rather, it serves as

3818-661: The Valley Medical Center VTA's longest and most-used bus route is the 22, which connects VTA's Eastridge Transit Center in East San Jose with the Caltrain station in Palo Alto , which serves as a transfer point for SamTrans buses from San Mateo County . Line 22, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic , was the only line with 24-hour, 7 days-per-week service, including night bus service as part of

3901-462: The bus fleet it inherited from its predecessors, which was in need of upgrades and repair. At first the district bought propane -fueled Twin Coaches and Gillig/Neoplans. SCCTD switched to an all-diesel fleet after six buses went up in flames between December 1977 and April 1978. At the time, critics referred to the buses as "rolling propane bombs." On March 6, 1976, Santa Clara County voters approved

3984-517: The collection of tax for specific commodities, such as cooking oil. Sales tax amounts, measured in drachmas at a rate of one percent, were recorded in a separate column of a record prepared for the auction of 16 slaves in Piraeus , Greece in 415 BC. Nearby Athens collected duties on the import and export of commodities, recorded at a rate of two percent in 399 BC. At that period of time, Athens did not rely on government agencies to collect its taxes;

4067-697: The company obtained equity funding from companies seeking to increase sales of commercial buses and supplies, including General Motors , Firestone Tire , Standard Oil of California and Phillips Petroleum . In 1936, they bought 13 transit companies in Illinois , Oklahoma and Michigan , then in 1937, they replaced streetcars in Butte, Montana and made purchases in Mississippi and Texas . Sometimes these systems were already run down, but not always. Major investment had recently been made with improvements to

4150-408: The consumer is required to pay a "use tax" identical to the sales tax. Use tax is levied upon the "storage, use, or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property". Consumers are responsible for declaring these purchases in the same filing as their annual state income tax, but it is rare for them to do so. An exception is out-of-state purchase of automobiles. Then, use tax is collected by

4233-565: The dismissal, and on January 23, 2019, the California Supreme Court refused to hear the final appeal. In January 2020, climate activists pushed the VTA to reallocate Measure B funds away from road projects and into more transit improvements, but were voted down at the San Jose City Council , which controls a majority of the VTA's board. On June 13, 2020, VTA opened the first 10-mile-long (16 km) phase of

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4316-431: The eighteen members, fifteen are drawn from city councils and three are county supervisors; twelve are voting members and six are alternates. Five of the fifteen board members from city councils are from San Jose, which has led to criticism that the board is too heavily weighted towards one city. Under the original proposal to form VTA in 1994, a sixteen-member board was proposed: five members directly elected, one each from

4399-525: The five County Supervisorial Districts; and eleven appointed from elected bodies (city councils or the county board of supervisors). The implementing legislation changed this structure to a nineteen-member board: twelve voting members, five alternates, and up to two ex-officio members, who serve as VTA's representatives to the Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission . For the first ten years (1995–2004),

4482-794: The gunman, were killed during the shooting, making it the deadliest mass shooting in the history of the San Francisco Bay Area . Starting from January 1, 1995, the Santa Clara VTA special district is governed by a board of directors with 12 voting members composed of political leaders at the city and county level, including the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors , San Jose City Council , and other cities including Campbell , Cupertino , Fremont , Gilroy , Los Altos , Los Altos Hills , Los Gatos , Milpitas , Monte Sereno , Morgan Hill , Mountain View , Palo Alto , Santa Clara , San Martin , Saratoga , and Sunnyvale . Of

4565-592: The introduction of light rail service, the transit district replaced its traditional blue and orange color scheme with blue and burgundy across the system, to better match the Tuscan red on the new light rail stations. Expansion of the single line continued in sections until 1991 when the starter system was completed to Santa Teresa station in South San Jose including the Almaden spur line . On January 1, 1995,

4648-562: The item is for resale. The tax is otherwise charged on each item sold to purchasers without such a certificate and who are under the jurisdiction of the taxing authority. Other types of sales taxes, or similar taxes: Most countries in the world have sales taxes or value-added taxes at all or several of the national, state, county, or city government levels. Countries in Western Europe , especially in Scandinavia , have some of

4731-533: The larger metropolitan areas in various parts of the country in 1943 merged with NCL in 1946. By 1947 the company owned or controlled 46 systems in 45 cities in 16 states. In 1947 National City Lines, with others was indicted in the Federal District Court of Southern California on two counts: ' conspiring to acquire control of a number of transit companies, forming a transportation monopolize ' and 'Conspiring to monopolize sales of buses and supplies to companies owned by National City Lines' in what became known as

4814-471: The many sources detailing the cities in which, at one time or another, National City Lines owned or controlled transit companies. A star (*) indicates that NCL is understood to have had significant control but not ownership: Additional information: In Los Angeles the Los Angeles Railway (Yellow Cars) was controlled by NCL but not Pacific Electric Railway (Red Cars) Montgomery City Lines

4897-507: The most well-known current sales taxes administered by the federal government. Twenty-two other states began imposing general sales taxes later in the 1930s, followed by six in the 1940s and five in the 1950s. Kentucky re-enacted its sales tax law in 1960. Eleven more states enacted sales tax laws during the 1960s, with Vermont as the last in 1969. Five states currently do not have general sales taxes: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon. The 2010 health care reform law imposed

4980-534: The operations of the three old bus companies on January 1, 1973. On September 26, 1974, the county Board of Supervisors dissolved the Public Works Department. Non-transit operations went into a new General Services Agency, while transit operations were placed into a new Santa Clara County Transportation Agency. Under the terms of the SCCTD Act, the five-member Board of Supervisors also served as

5063-602: The purpose of "conspiring to monopolize sales of buses and supplies to companies owned by National City Lines." They were acquitted on the first charge and convicted on the second in 1949. The company has roots back to 1920, when E. Roy Fitzgerald and his brother began operating two buses in Minnesota , transporting miners and schoolchildren. In 1936 the company was organized into a holding company. In 1938, National City Lines wished to purchase transportation systems in cities "where street cars were no longer practicable" and replace them with passenger buses . To fund this expansion

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5146-648: The regional All-Nighter Network . Line 22's fleet of coaches primarily consists of articulated low floorbuses . On January 14, 2008, VTA implemented major updates in its bus service. Some routes became part of a community bus network that utilizes shorter buses and charges a cheaper fee than standard bus service. Others became part of a core network with headways of 15 minutes or less. Additionally, some bus routes underwent changes in routing, while other, less-used routes were deleted completely. The agency completed another bus service redesign on December 28, 2019. On July 5, 2005, VTA implemented its first rapid bus line along

5229-490: The responsibility was delegated to the highest bidder, a practice known as tax farming . The Roman emperor Augustus collected funds for his military aerarium in AD 6 with a one percent general sales tax, known as the centesima rerum venalium (hundredth of the value of everything sold). The Roman sales tax was later reduced to a half percent ( ducentesima ) by Tiberius , then abolished completely by Caligula . Although

5312-581: The rule in the California State Constitution that requires a two-thirds supermajority to pass any special purpose sales tax, but only a majority vote to pass a general sales tax. The measure was challenged, but in 1998, the California Supreme Court ruled that the two measure system was valid. The tax was to be collected for ten years. In 2000, voters approved a 30-year extension of the 1996 sales tax to fund

5395-1052: The sale of buses and related products to local transit companies controlled by NCL and other companies; they were acquitted of conspiring to monopolize the ownership of these companies. The verdicts were upheld on appeal in 1951. The corporations involved were fined $ 5000, their executives $ 1 apiece. There is considerable uncertainty and variability amongst sources as to where National City Lines operated. The 1948 ruling stated that: "Forty-four cities in sixteen states are included. The states are as widely scattered as California, Florida, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, Texas and Washington. The larger local transportation systems include those of Baltimore, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles and Oakland. The largest concentrations of smaller systems are in Illinois, with eleven cities; California with nine (excluding Los Angeles); and Michigan with four. The local operating companies were not named as parties defendant." This table attempts to bring together

5478-488: The southern cities (one member from Santa Clara, Campbell, Cupertino, Saratoga, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, San Martin or Gilroy). Instead of the current structure, which appoints Board members from elected officials, under Berman's proposed bill, the Board members would be appointed from the public and serve four-year terms. AB 1091 faced significant opposition from the San Jose City Council and

5561-422: The state as part of registering the vehicle in California. The global trend has been for conventional sales taxes to be replaced by more broadly based value-added taxes. Value-added taxes provide an estimated 20% of worldwide tax revenue and have been adopted by more than 140 countries. The United States is now one of the few countries to retain conventional sales taxes. Sales tax on online purchasers operates in

5644-587: The streetcars systems in Beaumont, Texas . The Butte system, while sound, deliberately replaced to lower the load on the overtaxed electric system, which was primarily used for commercial uses, including electrolytic refining of copper and zinc. In 1938 the company entered into exclusive dealing arrangements and obtained equity funding from companies seeking to increase sales of commercial buses and supplies, including General Motors , Firestone Tire , Standard Oil of California and Phillips Petroleum . The company

5727-484: The tax burden lies primarily with the producer. To avoid altering demand, the producer will either avoid the tax if possible by relocating their fulfillment centers to areas without a high sales tax or they will internalize the cost of the sales tax by charging consumers the same price but paying for the tax from their profits. A tax imposed on the sale of goods is depicted on the walls of Egyptians tombs, which have been dated as far back as 2000 BC. These paintings describe

5810-479: The tax from the consumer at the point of purchase . When a tax on goods or services is paid to a governing body directly by a consumer, it is usually called a use tax . Often laws provide for the exemption of certain goods or services from sales and use tax, such as food, education, and medicines. A value-added tax (VAT) collected on goods and services is related to a sales tax. See Comparison with sales tax for key differences. Conventional or retail sales tax

5893-466: The trucking company Los Angeles-Seattle Motor Express (LASME) in 1959. In 1968, LASME merged with DC International and T.I.M.E. to form T.I.M.E.-DC . National City Lines sold its transportation management division in 1978. National City Lines was later acquired by Harold C. Simmons early in 1981. T.I.M.E.-DC ceased operations in 1988. The company continued as a fully controlled subsidiary of Simmon' Contran operation until December 31, 2007, when it

5976-430: The twelve voting members were selected as: Each Board of Directors member serves a two-year term. For the non-rotating members (San Jose, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, and County Supervisor), each member may serve multiple terms. From 2004 to 2009, the Board had similar requirements with five San Jose City Councilmembers and two County Supervisors; the five non-San Jose city-level Board members were selected as: In June 2004,

6059-557: The voters. Grand juries in 2009 and 2019 have echoed similar complaints. Assemblymember Marc Berman (D-Menlo Park) introduced AB 1091 on February 18, 2021, which would reduce the size of the board to nine members, of which five would be appointed by the County Supervisors, two would be from San Jose, and two would be from the remaining cities, split between the northern cities (one member from Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Sunnyvale, or Milpitas) and

6142-454: The world's highest valued-added taxes. Norway , Denmark and Sweden have higher VATs at 25%, Hungary has the highest at 27% although reduced rates are used in some cases, as for groceries, art, books and newspapers. In some jurisdictions of the United States, there are multiple levels of government which each impose a sales tax. For example, sales tax in Chicago (Cook County) , IL

6225-557: Was appointed the General Manager and CEO in May 2021, and began serving in July. VTA also serves as the Congestion Management Agency for Santa Clara County. In this role VTA makes decisions on what local projects can utilize federal and state funding, and manage sales tax revenue that is specified for VTA usages, such as 1987 Measure A and 2000 Measure A sales tax measures. VTA operates three light rail lines,

6308-630: Was defined as part of the Dormant Commerce Clause by the Supreme Court in the 1967 decision on National Bellas Hess v. Illinois . An attempt to require a Delaware e-commerce vendor to collect North Dakota tax was overturned by the court in the 1992 decision on Quill Corp. v. North Dakota . A number of observers and commentators have argued, so far unsuccessfully, for a Congressional adoption of this physical presence nexus test. The Internet Tax Freedom Act of 1998 established

6391-476: Was dissolved. Walter C. Lindley (January 3, 1951). "UNITED STATES v. NATIONAL CITY LINES, Inc., et al" . United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit . Archived from the original on 2008-06-08 . Retrieved 2009-04-05 . Sales tax A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for

6474-734: Was indicted in 1947 and was later convicted in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois of conspiring to monopolize the sale of buses and related products to the local transit companies that they controlled. Over 1938 and 1939 the company made purchases in Alabama , Indiana and Ohio . and by 1939, it owned or controlled 29 local transportation companies in 27 different cities in 10 states. American City Lines, which had been organized to acquire local transportation systems in

6557-744: Was organized in March 2000. Cooperative efforts in this project by 44 state governments and the District of Columbia eventually produced the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement in 2010. This agreement establishes standards necessary for simplified and uniform sales tax laws. As of December 2010, 24 states had passed legislation conforming with the agreement. Whether the Streamlined Sales Tax can actually be applied to remote sales ultimately depends upon Congressional support, because

6640-435: Was placed on the ballot by the VTA and did not include funding specifically for highway projects. The measure passed with 70% of the vote. Revenues from the sales tax would not begin being collected until April 2006. After 2000, due to the dot-com bust , existing revenue sources declined and VTA was forced to cut service and increase fares. VTA introduced a series of fare increases between 1998 and 2005. VTA's farebox recovery

6723-596: Was responsible for several highway projects such as widening portions of US 101 between San Jose and Morgan Hill , and Interstate 880 within Santa Clara County. VTA will also be the leading agency in SR 152 / SR 156 interchange and future widening projects. Other transit in the United States: National City Lines National City Lines, Inc. ( NCL ) was a public transportation company. The company grew out of

6806-579: Was tabled in May. Berman followed up by re-introducing the VTA Board reform bill as AB 2181 on February 15, 2022. AB 2181 passed the Assembly on a 69–2 vote in May, with Assemblymembers Ash Kalra and Mark Stone opposed. Current and former VTA Board members criticized AB 2181 as not sufficiently ensuring representation from smaller cities and not addressing the root causes of VTA's low ridership. Operations and management at VTA are led by

6889-541: Was the National City Lines subsidiary that operated the municipal transit system for Montgomery, Alabama . On 1 December 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to move to the back of a Montgomery City Lines bus. This led to the Montgomery bus boycott . Montgomery City Lines was placed in the middle of a dispute between Montgomery's black citizenry and Montgomery city laws. In a letter published in

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