Paving project tentatively scheduled to be completed by Summer 2027.
By DeNise Harding, PIO, Contra Costa County, Caltrans
Contra Costa County Caltrans crews continue making progress on State Route 4 tonight, Wednesday, August 19 through Thursday with paving, drainage, electrical and guardrail work scheduled throughout the corridor.
For the safety of the motoring public and our crews, Caltrans Construction has adjusted its schedule to allow crews to continue various operations along State Route 4 (SR-4). Overnight full closures, including lane and ramp closures, on westbound and eastbound SR-4 between SR-160 and Byron Highway will continue tonight and Sunday through Thursday nights, between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m., as construction progresses. Motorists are advised to plan ahead, allow additional travel time, prepare to merge, and slow for the cone zone. All work is weather dependent and subject to change. For current Caltrans District 4 lane closure information click here.
Full Closure SR-4 — Balfour Road to Byron Highway through 7:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.
Full closures of the conventional highway sections of SR-4 between Balfour Road and Byron Highway through Marsh Creek Road – for paving operations
Full Closures will continue through August 2026 throughout this corridor
Eastbound SR-4 — Hillcrest Avenue to SR-160 8:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m.
Alternating closures of lanes #3 and #4
Hillcrest Avenue on-ramp to eastbound SR-4 — CLOSED for drainage improvements
Westbound SR-4 Ramp Closures 7:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.
Sand Creek Road on-ramp to westbound SR-4 — CLOSED for guardrail work
Balfour Road on-ramp to westbound SR-4 — CLOSED for guardrail work
Balfour Road off-ramp from westbound SR-4 — CLOSED for electrical work
Eastbound SR-4 Balfour Road Off-Ramp 8:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m.
Balfour Road off-ramp from eastbound SR-4 — CLOSED for electrical work
Please note complete closures, as well as lane and ramp closures, will continue along SR-4 Sunday through Thursday nights as construction progresses. The westbound SR-4 closures are expected to reopen by 5:00 a.m., while the eastbound SR-4 to closures are expected to reopen by 8:00 a.m.
Traveling through the SR-4 corridor tonight? Plan ahead and expect delays. Please follow posted detours, allow extra travel time and slow down when approaching crews and equipment. Your attention behind the wheel helps everyone working along the highway get home safely.
Eastbound SR-4 from Antioch, Pittsburg, and Martinez towards Discovery and Stockton: The detour begins at Balfour Road. Take the Balfour Road exit, turn left on Balfour Road, turn right onto Brentwood Boulevard or continue Balfour Road, then turn right into Byron, follow SR-4.
Westbound SR-4 from Discovery Bay and Stockton towards Martinez / Antioch/Oakland: The detour begins at the Byron, turn left onto Brentwood Boulevard, turn left into Balfour Road or continue Byron Highway, turn left into Balfour Road, continue Balfour Road, turn right onto the westbound SR-4 on-ramp, and continue on SR-4.
Westbound Vasco Road towards Martinez/Antioch/Oakland: The detour begins at Walnut Boulevard. Turn right on to Walnut Boulevard, turn left onto Balfour Road, continue Balfour Road, turn right onto the west-bound SR-4 on-ramp, and continue to SR-4.
Eastbound from Martinez/ Antioch Oakland to Livermore: The detour begins at Balfour exit. Left on Balfour Road, continue Balfour Road, take left turn into Walnut Boulevard, turn left Vasco Road, continue Vasco Road.
All work is weather dependent and subject to change.
This paving project is tentatively scheduled to be completed by Summer 2027.
Caltrans thanks the public for their patience and cooperation during these necessary closures and improvements. Your understanding helps keep our crew members and roadways safe for everyone.
Entitled “Get Educated and Ride Safe” (GEARS) VIII – countywide through Sept. 30
141 crashes, 29 major injuries, 5 fatalities involving motorcycles in Contra Costa in 2025
By Officer Daniel Gilmore, PIO, CHP Contra Costa Area
CONTRA COSTA, Calif. – In an effort to reduce the number of motorcycle crashes, California Highway Patrol (CHP) Contra Costa Area will deploy additional officers August 20, 2026, on Interstate 80, and unincorporated roadways in Contra Costa County. Officers will look for violations by both motorcycle riders and drivers that make roads dangerous for other traffic, including unsafe speed, following too closely, unsafe lane changes, and improper turning.
Motorcycle-involved crashes continue to be a major concern for the CHP Contra Costa Area. From January 2025 through December 2025, provisional statistical data revealed there were 141 crashes involving motorcycles within our jurisdiction. Of those crashes, 29 involved major injuries, and five resulted in fatalities.
Funding for these operations is provided by a grant from the Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Titled “Get Educated and Ride Safe (GEARS) VIII, the grant funding assists the CHP in reducing deadly and serious injury crashes involving motorcycles. The CHP Contra Costa Area will continue to deploy additional enforcement efforts through September 30, 2026.
If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact Public Information Officer D. Gilmore, at (925) 586-1879.
The mission of the CHP is to provide the highest level of Safety, Service and Security.
By Alma Galvan, Regional Marketing & Communications Director, Better Business Bureau San Francisco Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Better Business Bureau (BBB) is warning consumers about an alleged cryptocurrency investment operation involving BG Wealth Sharing LTD and the DSJ Exchange platform.
Since May 2026 BBB has received several Scam Tracker reports from local Bay Area consumers who reported losing a combined $69,706.60. All reports were submitted by adults age 65 or older from Alameda and San Francisco counties.
According to the reports, consumers were introduced to the opportunity through relatives, friends, or local recruiters. Four consumers reported attending presentations at a Denny’s restaurant in Hayward, where participants were shown how to open and fund accounts and use trading “signals” or codes on the DSJ Exchange platform.
Consumers reported initially depositing between $2,000 and $5,000 through cash or cryptocurrency. Some said they gave cash to another participant or intermediary who converted it to cryptocurrency and funded their DSJ account.
The consumers described seeing their account balances increase as they copied and pasted trading codes provided through an online group. Some reported being promised daily returns, bonuses, or additional trading signals for recruiting new participants.
When consumers attempted to withdraw their earnings, however, they reported that withdrawals were frozen or unavailable. Several said they were instructed to pay an additional “tax” equal to 12% of the total balance displayed in their account before their funds could be released.
One consumer reported that a $5,000 initial deposit appeared to grow to more than $24,600. The consumer was then instructed to pay nearly $3,000 more before attempting a withdrawal. The consumer refused to pay and reported being unable to access the displayed balance.
“Consumers should never have to send additional money or cryptocurrency to pay a supposed tax before withdrawing their own funds,” said Alma Galvan, Regional Marketing and Communications Director for BBB SF Bay Area. “A growing balance displayed on an investment platform does not necessarily mean that the money exists or can be withdrawn. Be especially cautious when an opportunity relies on recruiting friends and family or promises unusually consistent returns.”
The reports received by BBB are consistent with concerns raised by securities regulators in several states. The Texas State Securities Board issued an emergency cease-and-desist order involving BG Wealth Sharing and DSJ Exchange, alleging an operation that used recruitment incentives, misleading account dashboards, withdrawal restrictions, and demands for an additional 12% “exit tax” or “compliance fee.”
The State of Hawaii also issued a preliminary cease-and-desist order alleging that BG Wealth Sharing and certain promoters solicited and offered unregistered securities. Securities regulators in Utah and Washington have issued investor warnings regarding BG Wealth Sharing and DSJ Exchange.
BBB cautions that this warning concerns BG Wealth Sharing LTD and the DSJ Exchange platform described in the reports and regulatory actions. It should not be confused with unrelated businesses that use similar names.
BBB recommends the following precautions:
Verify the investment and seller are properly registered.
Be skeptical of guaranteed or unusually consistent returns.
Research opportunities independently, even when recommended by someone you trust.
Avoid investments that reward recruitment.
Never give cash to someone to invest on your behalf.
Do not pay additional taxes or fees to withdraw funds.
Be cautious of unfamiliar platforms; displayed profits may be fabricated.
Consumers who believe they have lost money should immediately stop sending funds and contact their bank, cryptocurrency exchange, or payment provider. Preserve screenshots, messages, transaction records, wallet addresses, receipts, and information about anyone involved. BBB encourages consumers to submit scram reports to:
Victims should also be alert for recovery scams. Individuals claiming that they can hack a blockchain, retrieve cryptocurrency, or recover lost funds in exchange for an upfront payment may be attempting to victimize them a second time.
ABOUT BBB:Better Business Bureau‘s mission is to be the leader in advancing marketplace trust by setting standards for ethical business behavior, encouraging and supporting best practices, celebrating marketplace role models, calling out and addressing substandard marketplace behavior, and creating a community of trustworthy businesses and charities.
A suspect is arrested in the Bay Area after attempting to steal multiple items and Organized Retail Crime Blitz statistics. Photos & source: CHP
By Jaime Coffee, Director of Communications Office of Media Relations, CHP
SACRAMENTO — The California Highway Patrol (CHP) continues to make steady progress in dismantling organized retail crime networks throughout the state. Recently, the CHP joined more than 100 law enforcement agencies for a National Organized Retail Crime Blitz, helping recover $1.05 million in stolen goods. Building on last year’s success, this event reaffirms the CHP’s commitment to holding retail theft suspects accountable.
From August 1 through 9, the CHP Organized Retail Crime Task Force (ORCTF) saturated communities and led coordinated enforcement operations at several businesses, shopping centers and retail stores statewide. Officers proactively identified and apprehended offenders suspected of organized retail theft.
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“The impacts of retail theft on businesses and communities are long-lasting. The CHP will continue to dedicate resources to catching perpetrators and holding accountable those who take from businesses and victimize communities.” – CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee
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As a result of the CHP’s statewide efforts, officers arrested 97 suspects, including eight on felony charges, and recovered more than 8,500 stolen items valued at approximately $1.05 million.
“The proactive operations conducted during the blitz are a snapshot of the work the Organized Retail Crime Task Force is committed to doing every day,” added Commissioner Duryee. “We will continue to do our part year-round to identify problematic areas, reduce retail theft and make California a safer place to work, live and visit.”
Numerous stolen sneakers recovered during coordinated enforcement efforts in San Diego. A suspect is arrested by the CHP Border Division during the ORC Blitz.
Yearly Progress Snapshot
Looking at the broader picture, the blitz builds on years of steady enforcement. Since the ORCTF’s inception in 2019, the CHP has been involved in more than 4,700 investigations, resulting in more than 5,300 arrests and the recovery of more than 1.6 million stolen items valued at more than $76.6 million as of July 30.
In the first seven months of 2026, the CHP made nearly 350 retail theft arrests, investigated more than 280 incidents, and assisted partner agencies with more than 80 investigations, recovering an estimated $6.7 million in stolen goods.
Organized retail crime affects more than businesses. It can impact employees, consumers and the communities where these businesses operate. The CHP will continue to work with its law enforcement partners to disrupt organized retail crime and protect California’s communities.
Officers arrest a retail theft suspect during a series of proactive blitz operations in Roseville, Lodi and Stockton.
Organized Retail Theft Program
In response to AB 1065, the CHP, in consultation with the DOJ, developed a task force concept to work with allied agencies to combat organized retail theft. The CHP encourages victims of organized retail crime to use the tip link resource located on this page to report qualifying incident(s)
Beginning in 2019, Assembly Bill (AB) 1065 required the Department of the California Highway Patrol (CHP), until July 1, 2021, to coordinate with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to convene a regional property crimes task force to identify geographic areas experiencing increased levels of property crimes and assist local law enforcement with resources, such as personnel and equipment. The recent passage of Assembly Bill 331 will extend the operation of the regional property crimes task force until January 1, 2026.
As reported by the National Retail Federation, organized retail theft accounts for nearly $30 billion in economic loss per year. This loss is carried by retailers on several levels but is ultimately passed on to consumers through price inflation to offset economic loss. While the problem is most commonly associated with shoplifting, it extends well beyond into associated organized criminal activity. Commercial burglary, vehicle burglary, identity theft, credit card fraud, forgery, and fencing (selling or distribution of) stolen property are part of a bigger picture that finance ongoing criminal operations.
A trunk full of stolen items was recovered and multiple stolen items recovered from a Target as a result of proactive operations throughout Bakersfield and Turlock.
In response to AB 1065, the CHP, in consultation with the DOJ, developed a task force concept to work with allied agencies to combat organized retail theft. Three regional task forces, known as Organized Retail Crime Task Forces (ORCTF), were established by the CHP in five field Divisions with the greatest need for immediate action: Golden Gate Division (encompassing the greater Bay Area), Southern Division (encompassing the greater Los Angeles region), Border Division (encompassing Orange and San Diego counties), Valley Division (encompassing the greater Sacramento area and surrounding counties), and Central Division (encompassing the San Joaquin Valley).
The CHP encourages victims of organized retail crime to report qualifying incident(s) which are covered under California Penal Code Section 490.4, Organized Retail Theft.
Rick Moreland will be the new CEO of Sutter Delta Medical Center as of Aug. 24, 2026. Photos: Sutter Health
By Monique Binkley Smith, Manager, Media Relations, Sutter Health
ANTIOCH, Calif., (August 18, 2026) Sutter Health has named Rick Moreland, MBA, as chief executive officer of Sutter Delta Medical Center, effective Aug. 24.
In this role, Moreland will report directly to Christina Oh, president of Sutter Health’s Greater San Francisco and East Bay Division, and will serve as dyad partner to Harish Rengarajan, M.D., chief medical executive of Sutter Delta Medical Center, who joined the hospital in February.
“Rick is a proven healthcare leader with deep operational expertise and a strong commitment to quality, access and patient-centered care,” said Oh. “Over the past year, he has provided steady leadership during a period of transition while helping advance key organizational priorities, strengthen performance and support our physicians, caregivers and staff. I am confident Rick will build on Sutter Delta’s strong foundation and continue delivering exceptional care to the East Contra Costa County communities we serve.”
Moreland brings more than two decades of healthcare leadership experience across acute care hospitals, ambulatory services, service line operations and healthcare transformation. He most recently served as interim chief executive officer and executive of operations at Sutter Delta Medical Center, where he provided executive leadership during a period of organizational transition while maintaining a strong focus on quality, patient access, workforce engagement and financial stewardship.
Under Moreland’s leadership, Sutter Delta maintained its Leapfrog “A” Hospital Safety Grade, achieved American College of Cardiology accreditation and advanced operational performance through improvements in patient throughput and organizational execution.
Prior to joining Sutter Health in 2025, Moreland served as executive of operations for perioperative and surgical services at the University of Vermont Medical Center and Children’s Hospital, where he oversaw operations across Vermont’s largest academic health system.
His previous leadership roles include chief operating officer at Dignity Health’s Mercy Medical Center in Merced, Calif., where he led operations across a multi-campus medical center, rural health clinics, a cancer center and ambulatory surgery services. He also held leadership positions at Adventist Health Rideout and Stanford Health Care, where he helped launch innovative cardiovascular and surgical programs and led major service line growth initiatives.
Moreland holds a master’s degree in healthcare administration from Capella University and a bachelor’s degree in community studies from Humphreys University.
About Sutter Health
Sutter Health is a not-for-profit healthcare system dedicated to providing comprehensive care throughout California. Guided by a commitment to advancing innovative patient care, healthy outcomes and community partnerships, Sutter is pursuing a bold plan to reach more people and make excellent healthcare more connected, accessible and personalized.
Today, its dedicated team of more than 64,000 employees and clinicians and 15,000+ affiliated physicians care for more than 3.6 million patients and are united by a shared focus on expanding care to serve more
patients. Sutter delivers exceptional and affordable care through its hospitals, medical groups, ambulatory surgery centers, urgent care clinics, telehealth, home health and hospice services.
Recognized nationally for its workplace culture, Sutter Health has been named to Modern Healthcare’s 2026 Best Places to Work in Healthcare list and Forbes’ America’s Best Employers for Company Culture 2026. Learn more about how Sutter Health is transforming care at sutterhealth.org and vitals.sutterhealth.org.
State’s largest free database of public employee pay and pension information
New website is live – faster, mobile friendly and 100% ad free, giving 10 million users a clearer look at government pay and spending.
By Transparent California
Transparent California, the state’s largest database of public pay and pension data, has now obtained 2024 data covering over 93% of employee compensation and pension payments in our state. This includes state, county, city, school district, and special records.
Our team has collected almost 3 million compensation records documenting $278 billion in total pay and benefits, and 1.5 million pension records with $64 billion in payments. Since launching over a decade ago Transparent California has now collected and posted over 50 million compensation and pension records. All available free at http://transparentcalifornia.com.
This year we’ve made that site easier to use. Users report they love our site changes and web traffic has seen a tremendous increase, to over 2 million page views a month.
Photo: Transparent CA
Did you know in 2024 149,065 public employees made total compensation exceeding a quarter-million dollars a year? For more detail on what we’ve found in this data, go to our website and click on News and Updates for a summary.
And if you have a specific interest in an agency of our government, click “Get notified” on that agency’s page and you’ll get a notice when new data is posted.
Transparent California’s data collection schedule is determined by the State Controller’s Office reporting requirements. The inordinate delays allowed by the state, as well as significant resistance from some of the agencies involved, is why we’re just now wrapping up 2024.
Assembly Bill AB1821, if passed, would extend the time for a response from 14 calendar days to 14 “business days”, effectively be three weeks. This may sound small, but that deadline only applies to a “response”, not to provision of the actual records requested. Our legislature continues to ignore the current legislation has no defined deadline for production of the actual records, nor does it impose any penalty on agencies for delaying the process (or declining to respond altogether) even if the requester files a lawsuit and wins.
Transparent California’s Director of Research, Todd Maddison, notes “As we see more tax increase proposals appearing, we’re focused on giving the People the data they deserve to see how their existing tax dollars are being spent, so they can make informed decisions at the ballot box.”
Transparent California depends on the generosity of individual donors to enable this collection. Anyone with a specific interest in a particular agency can sponsor collection of their data and support the effort to provide the public with this service.
Says “the District Board wrote the RTM Ballot Question…in a way that is intentionally confusing or misleading to voters.”
By Allen D. Payton
The Committee for Affordable Bay Area Transit (CABAT) organized to oppose the Regional Transit Measure (RTM) on the November ballot filed a lawsuit, Monday, against Election Officials in the five included counties and Kimberly Ward, the Public Transit Revenue Measure District Elections Official. If approved by voters, the tax measure, known as Connect Bay Area Transit, will raise a half-cent in four of the five counties, including Contra Costa, Alameda, Santa Clara and San Mateo and one-cent in San Francisco County for 14 years and raise an estimated $17 billion.
Labeled a VERIFIED PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDATE AND PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION, the lawsuit was filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court by 10 petitioners including former State Senator Quentin L. Kopp, Gregg A. Diéguez, President of CABAT and Marc Joffe, President of the Contra Costa Taxpayers Association, as well as Brian Holtz, Thomas Rubin and five others listed as individuals and electors in the Public Transit Revenue Measure District.
Kopp is also President of the San Francisco Taxpayers Association; Holtz is President of the Purissima Hills Water District Board of Directors in Santa Clara County and Secretary and Treasurer of the Libertarian Party of Santa Clara County; and Rubin is Vice President of the Alameda County Taxpayers Association, Inc.
Attorney Jason Bezis of Lafayette is representing them.
The District was formed to oversee the process for the transit tax measure. (Seerelated article)A separate oversight committee will be formed to verify proper expenditure of the funds should the measure pass.
The lawsuit was filed before “the final printing deadline date” of “Friday, August 28, 2026, by which all ballot language and County Voter Information Guides (CVIG) materials must be finalized, including resolving any legal challenges in court.”
Transit Officials Were Warned But Did It Anyway
According to Joffe, “Transit officials cannot claim they were blindsided. On the night of July 23, 2026, the eve of the board’s special meeting, attorney Bezis sent a detailed pre-litigation demand letter urging the board not to approve the question as drafted. The letter was acknowledged multiple times and the measure was placed on the ballot with the slanted wording anyway.”
Lawsuit cover page. Source: CABAT
Legal Claims
The lawsuit “challenges biased, not neutral, untrue, partial, argumentative, and/or prejudicial wording in the RTM Ballot Question (also called ‘ballot label’ or ‘statement of the measure’) in violation of the Elections Code sections 9051(e) and 13119(c) standards and false and/or misleading wording in the RTM Ballot Question under the Elections Code section 9380/McDonough v. Superior Court (2012) 204 Cal.App.4th 1169 (‘McDonough’) standard. This lawsuit also challenges the Impartial Analysis authored by real party in interest DISTRICT Counsel KATHLEEN KANE as false, misleading, and/or not impartial in violation of Elections Code section 9380.”
The petitioners “seek a writ of mandate to compel amendment of the ballot question (also known as ‘ballot label’ or ‘statement of the measure’) and the impartial analysis that Respondents COUNTY ELECTIONS OFFICIALS and Ms. WARD are preparing for voter use in the Regional Transit Measure (‘RTM’) election to be held on November 3, 2026.”
Further, the lawsuit claims, “Petitioners assert that the DISTRICT and DISTRICT BOARD wrote the RTM Ballot Question…in a way that is intentionally confusing or misleading to voters.”
‘To prevent major service cuts to BART and other transit, avoid increased traffic, and reduce pollution by: Preserving BART, Caltrain, VTA, SamTrans, AC Transit, Muni, other transit for everyone, including workers, students, seniors, persons with disabilities; Supporting transit safety, cleanliness, affordability, reliability; Repairing targeted roads/potholes; Requiring financial transparency, oversight, accountability; shall the measure enacting a 0.5% (Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Santa Clara counties), and 1% (San Francisco) sales tax for 14 years generating approximately $980,000,000 annually, be adopted?’”
Challenges & Proposed Changes
However, the petitioners claim the adopted ballot language does not comply with state Elections Code and the amount is incorrect and should instead be $1.2 million per year. They claim the statement of the measure is not “a true and impartial synopsis of the purpose of the proposed measure,” is “argumentative” and “likely to create prejudice for or against the measure,” and that the “RTM Ballot question is inherently prejudicial” based on a survey MTC conducted last year. Furthermore, the petitioners “argue that components of the RTM Ballot Question are false and/or misleading.”
They want to make the following changes:
Amend the phrase “Preserving BART …” to read “Funding BART …”
Delete the phrase “for everyone, including workers, students, seniors, persons with disabilities”.
Delete the phrase “To prevent major service cuts to BART and other transit”.
Alternatively, strike the word “major” in the phrase “To prevent major service cuts …”
Delete the phrase “avoid increased traffic”.
Delete the phrase “reduce pollution”.
Strike the phrase “/potholes”.
Amend “Repairing targeted roads” to read “Repaving transit-served roads”.
Strike the words “affordability, reliability”.
Amend “enacting” to read “imposing”.
Amend the phrase “sales tax” to read “sales and use tax”.
Strike the word “oversight” in the phrase “Requiring … oversight”.
Strike the word “accountability” in the phrase “Requiring … accountability”.
Amend “$980,000,000 annually” (September 2025 estimate) to an updated number (an August 2026 estimate) or “$1,200,000,000 annually” (September 2025 estimates, averaged over 14 years).
Alternative Ballot Language
The lawsuit offers the following ballot language alternatives:
“If the Court were to order all of the amendments and corrections suggested by Petitioners supra, the RTM Ballot Question would read:
‘Funding BART, Caltrain, VTA, SamTrans, AC Transit, Muni, other transit; Supporting transit safety, cleanliness; Repaving transit-serving roads; Requiring financial transparency; shall the measure imposing a 0.5% (Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Santa Clara counties) and 1% (San Francisco) sales and use tax for 14 years generating approximately $1,200,000,000 annually, be adopted?’”
The lawsuit further reads, “If the Court were to order all of the amendments and corrections suggested by Petitioners supra, including use of the ‘Shall the measure … be adopted?’ format, the RTM Ballot Question would read:
‘Shall the measure imposing a 0.5% (Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Santa Clara counties) and 1% (San Francisco) sales and use tax for 14 years generating approximately $1,200,000,000 annually; Funding BART, Caltrain, VTA, SamTrans, AC Transit, Muni, other transit; Supporting transit safety, cleanliness; Repaving transit-serving roads; Requiring financial transparency; be adopted?’”
The petitioners also claim the “RTM Impartial Analysis is partial, false, and/or misleading” and that it should be written by either the California Attorney General, a county counsel or district attorney instead of Kathleen Kane who is he legal counsel for the District.
“Supporters of the Transit Measure need to use misleading advertising because voters won’t pass the measure if they have the real story that it is a regressive tax falling hardest on seniors and low-income families for 14 years,” Dieguez stated.
“Voters deserve the honest description the law guarantees them, and if the district won’t provide it, a court should,” Joffe added
Share ideas, raise concerns, provide suggestionsonline or in person
By David Hafner, Office of Public Affairs, CDTFA
What: The Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights Meeting, on August 19, 2026, is an opportunity for taxpayers to provide valuable feedback on the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration’s (CDTFA) programs and procedures. Presided over by the Department’s Taxpayers’ Rights Advocate, Alfred Buck, the annual meeting encourages taxpayers to share ideas, raise concerns and provide suggestions. This meeting is open to everyone.
IN PERSON: May Lee State Office Complex Auditorium, 651 Bannon Street, Sacramento, CA 95811-0299 Those unable to attend in person can also participate by:
Telephone, toll-free at 844-767-5651, access code 8014689.
Enacted in January 1989, the Harris-Katz California Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights ensures that the rights of California taxpayers are protected during the assessment and collection of sales taxes. The Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights was expanded in 1993 to include special tax programs such as environmental fees, fuel taxes, and tobacco taxes.
The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) administers California’s sales and use, fuel, tobacco, alcohol and cannabis taxes, as well as other taxes and fees that fund specific state programs. CDTFA-administered programs accounted for more than $97.8 billion in the 2024/25 fiscal year, supporting essential local services such as transportation, public safety and health, libraries, schools, social services and natural resource management programs through the distribution of tax dollars directly to local communities.
