After hours of debate and public comment, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday decided, in broad brush terms, how to divvy up hundreds of millions of dollars that are suddenly available for housing, homeless services, and other uses.
Voters narrowly passed Measure W in 2020, implementing a 10-year, half-cent sales tax. But the money was held up for years as the county dealt with legal challenges. The county ultimately prevailed in court, meaning the $810 million in revenue that’s accrued since 2021 is finally available.
Campaign literature advertised that Measure W would fund homelessness services and housing. But as a general tax measure, it couldn’t legally be earmarked for a specific use, leading to a passionate debate and scramble over in recent weeks over how exactly to spend the revenue…