Balancing Oakland's Budget
Closing the city’s structural deficit to move toward fiscal solvency and economic growth
November 2020 Election Results
News / This year, SPUR’s Voter Guide provided Bay Area voters with analysis and recommendations on 35 local, regional and state measures. Now that the dust has settled, a historic election in a historic year has produced a number of critical local wins in the Bay Area, despite some significant defeats.
Undue Burden
SPUR Report / Sales taxes are a common revenue-raising tool, but they also play a role in reinforcing structural inequality. Every consumer pays the same tax rate at the register, but low-income households pay a higher percentage of their income. In a new report, SPUR explores three options for instituting a low-income sales tax credit or supplement to help create a more equitable tax code.
Time to Reform Bay Area Sales Taxes
News / Taxes are more than revenue-raising tools: They reflect our collective sense of fairness and shared values. But most sales taxes are regressive, which means they hit low-income households hardest. A new SPUR report argues that a sales tax credit or similar cash benefit could address these impacts and advance a more just tax code and a more equitable region.
November 2020 Voter Guide
Voter Guide / SPUR analyzed all local and state measures on the San Francisco, San José and Oakland ballots for the November 2020 election. Our analysis includes the background behind the measures, pros and cons, and a recommendation on how to vote.
Value Driven
SPUR Report / Roads and parking are expensive to build, but they’re mostly free for drivers to use as much as they’d like. This kind of free access imposes serious costs on others: traffic, climate change, air pollution, and heart and lung disease. SPUR’s new report Value Driven shines a light on the invisible costs of driving and offers five pioneering strategies to address them.