10 mayors oppose Newsom plan to tap local funds for high-speed rail
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California city leaders are stepping up their opposition to the state’s high-speed rail project, fearing the Golden State will dip into local taxpayer funds to prop up the struggling rail system after nearly two decades of delays.
“This Draft 2026 Business Plan proposal is fiscally reckless, legally vulnerable, and fundamentally unfair to communities slated to host high-speed rail facilities. It would weaken local governments, destabilize public services, and undermine constitutional protections that California voters have repeatedly affirmed. Simply put: the state cannot solve a state funding problem by raiding local tax bases,” wrote Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer, along with nine other mayors in the letter obtained by Fox News Digital.
The mayors wrote the April letter to the CEO of the High-Speed Rail Authority (HSRA), blasting a tax and planning proposal to help fund the railroad that has been under construction since 2008.
The mayors urged the state to pursue voter-approved bonds or dedicated state revenue sources instead of “attempting to divert local tax growth through a legally questionable ploy.”
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Ten California mayors are demanding an end to a proposed proposal that would use local tax dollars to finance high-speed rail. (Fred Greaves/Reuters)
The suggested plan first appeared in the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s Draft 2026 Business Plan. The plan for full construction of Phase 1 of the line has been re-estimated at $231.3 billion, while the Authority’s optimized approach places the initial investment for Phase 1 at approximately $126.2 billion.
The proposed funding for high-speed rail would not create a new tax, but would redirect tax revenue near future high-speed rail stations toward the project, the local Fresno Bee newspaper reported.
A spokesperson for the California High-Speed Rail Authority dismissed the mayors’ description, saying there was no finalized plan to capture local revenue.
“There are no proposals. Through the Draft 2026 Business Plan, the Authority is continuing discussions with local jurisdictions and stakeholders on potential tools that could support station infrastructure and system delivery over the long term,” a spokesperson for the California High-Speed Rail Authority said.
President Donald Trump and other administration officials have repeatedly criticized Newsom and other California leaders for the time and money spent on the project since it was approved in 2008 with an initial price tag of $33 billion, before ballooning to more than $200 billion in expected costs.
“A little train going from San Francisco to Los Angeles, run by Gavin New-scum, the governor of California,” Trump said on May 6. “Have you ever heard of Gavin Newsom? He’s got this train, the worst cost overrun I’ve ever seen. It’s totally out of control.”
The rail project was approved in 2008 with an initial price tag of $33 billion. (Damian Dovarganes/AP)
“It is not constitutionally permissible in California for the State of California to come and use these sales tax dollars for purposes other than what they are intended for, which is to support local government,” Dyer said.
He said mayors have been left in the dark, failing to meet with HSRA officials, excluded from conversations and remaining unsure of the tax amount.
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The other nine mayors signing the letter represent the cities of Anaheim, Lancaster, Riverside, Bakersfield, Gilroy, Merced, Burbank, Hanford and Stockton.
The mayors called the plan to cherry-pick taxpayer dollars a “legally dubious ploy” and “setting a dangerous statewide precedent.”
Lawmakers and local officials have criticized the project for its failure to produce expected results and for its apparent waste of taxpayer dollars, while project officials insist it will be completed.
“California’s high-speed rail has become a slow train wreck — a case study in government waste and mismanagement, with billions spent, deadlines missed and still nothing to show for it,” Republican Rep. Vince Fong, D-Calif., wrote on X in April. “No completed track. No trains. Just broken promises. Years later, it’s still taxpayers footing the bill.”
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At a conference in Washington, D.C., HSRA CEO Ian Choudri said the high-speed rail would be completed “in our lifetime,” SFGate reported.
The Department of Transportation canceled billions of dollars in federal grants for the project in the summer of 2025.
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Fox News Digital has reached out to HSRA, Governor Newsom’s office and Mayor Dyer for comment.
