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The BART Board of Directors unanimously approved a labor agreement that will increase police officer salaries by 19% in an attempt to fill 28 vacant positions and put officer salaries on par with neighboring agencies.
The cost of these raises, agreed to by the BART Board of Directors and the BART Police Officers Association, will total around $8.54 million, according to a BART press release after the June 22 approval.
These added expenses come as BART faces a $93 million budget deficit in 2025 and has warned of service cuts and layoffs without additional funding.
BART police officer pay was found to be around 20% lower than other regional police agencies and the agency has struggled to fill vacancies in recent years.
With these pay increases, the BART Police Department looks to spend less on overtime pay, increase hiring and retention as well as recruit more experienced officers from other departments.
This contract also sets a new “minimum presence requirement” for police officers on trains. Under the new agreement, 50% of on-duty patrol staff must be assigned to ride trains.
BART riders can expect to see an 60% increase in police presence during the mornings and 70% during the evening. A 2022 survey conducted by BART found that police presence was one of the top priorities for riders, said David Coleman, BART’s director of labor negotiations.
Contra Costa residents are already paying two BART property taxes and a half-percent BART sales tax, whether or not they ever ride BART trains.
Look next to Transparent California’s listing of BART salaries and benefits, and note that you have to get to employee number 859 before salary + benefit totals drop below $200,000 ( https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2021/san-francisco-bay-area-rapid-transit-district ).
Like other local public agencies — including SRVUSD and other school districts — BART routinely cries poverty until it’s time for the next salary and benefit increase.
BART’s 2023 budget shows farebox and other operating revenues anticipated at $255 Million (just 25% of total), tax-money revenues at $762 Million, for operations that were originally supposed to be self-funded.
BART was able to get its 2016 bond-measure tax-increase specially labeled as “Measure RR.” Get it? Measure RailRoad.
Taxpayers were railroaded indeed. As local attorney Jason Bezis observed — and complained officially to the Fair Political Practices Commission — BART spent public funds to promote Measure RR.
Two years later, the FPPC finally fined BART a mere $7,500 (also paid with taxpayer dollars?) for failing to report its campaign funding (for a campaign which BART wasn’t legally permitted to fund).
Tax spending by public agencies for “public education” campaigns — to supply more new taxes — is a common problem. To the extent it supports a “yes” vote, it’s also illegal. Yet the agencies are seldom punished; and in the few occasions when they are, the individual schemers at fault do not wind up going to jail or even paying the fines.
A related problem is the behind-scenes reliance of public agencies on their current and prospective vendors of goods and services for most of their campaign funding (likely as shakedowns). Those vendors then benefit from the new spending afforded by the new taxes (i.e., kickbacks). So far, unfortunately, that’s “legal.”
The 20% salary increase for BART officers should also include a more comprehensive vetting and hiring process.
Remember Fruitvale?
The BART police should have more presence on the trains themselves via ridership. This will add another crime deterrent.
The BART police should have more presence on the trains themselves via ridership. This will add another crime deterrent.