December 2004

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Elections  

For detail on local tax measures, click here. For detail on local non-school bond measures, click here. Click here for details on school bond elections.

Nearly 59 percent (105) of 179 tax hikes on local ballots were rejected by voters on November 2, according to Cal-Tax’s  survey of returns around the state. Voters were more likely to defeat a new or higher tax, but seemed willing to ratify existing taxes or allow them to be continued without raising the rate.

Many eyebrows were raised over the unwillingness of so many voters in the liberal bastion of Berkeley to tax themselves, even for libraries and paramedic services. San Francisco’s generally liberal voters also trounced a sales tax proposal.

Sales Taxes: Fifty-four sales tax measures were sought by cities, counties and special districts, including one school district. Twenty-three were successful. Nine countywide sales tax measures were approved as voters in 20 counties considered 23 measures.

It took election officials in Sonoma County until November 19 to declare victory for Measure M, the .25 percent sales tax for transportation. It was declared the winner with 1,072 votes to spare, getting 67.2 percent and needing 66.67 percent.

Seven of the 10 countywide transportation sales tax measures were approved. The winners, except for Sonoma and Marin counties, were proposals to extend existing tax authority: San Diego, San Bernardino, Sacramento, Contra Costa and San Mateo. The three losers, all seeking new taxes, were Santa Cruz, Solano and Ventura.

A 0.5 percent sales tax in Turlock (Stanislaus County), which had been trailing on the day after the election, edged ahead with 50.2 percent support, but wound up losing after provisional ballots were counted. Thirteen cities proposed successful sales tax measures; 17 had measures rejected by voters.

 A sales tax hike for school buses in Mariposa County, placed on the ballot by the county school district, was rejected although supported by about 63 percent of the vote. Another sales tax measure in Mariposa County, a 0.5 percent  levy in the JC Healthcare District, was approved by nearly 70 percent of the vote.

The sales tax increases add many billions of dollars to local coffers. Transportation programs in San Diego County are expected to get $14 billion over 40 years; Sacramento County, $5 billion over 30 years, and San Bernardino County $6 billion over 30 years.

Parcel Taxes: Sixty-five measures were on ballots, with 27 getting necessary two-thirds voter support. Of these, 18 were for school districts, with nine passing. Among those failing: Belmont-Redwood Shores schools in San Mateo County, where the “yes” vote was 66.4 percent.

Utility User Taxes: Of 18 measures on ballots, the 13 that failed were mostly new or increased levees. Marina’s 5 percent continuation UUT in Monterey County, barely passing the day after the election, lost with 49.5 percent support as of November 16. Besides those 18 measures, voters approved a tax reduction in San Pablo and rejected tax repeal in Moreno Valley.

Hotel-Motel Taxes: Half of 28 transient occupancy tax measures were successful, including 55.6 percent support of Ione’s 4 percent increase of its 6 percent tax. The Amador County community, home to Mule Creek State Prison and Castle Oaks golf course, boosted its tax at an opportunistic time. The Amador Ledger Dispatch reported November 10 that escrow had just closed on the sale of land next to the golf course that is to be the site of a $22 million Castle Oaks hotel and senior apartment complex.

Miscellaneous: Half of 10 business license taxes were rejected, as were two property transfer taxes and a cemetery tax.

Non-School Local Bonds: The $908 million BART bond, voted upon in Alameda and Contra Costa counties and in San Francisco, won with 68.5 percent of the vote as of November 9. It had improved from 67.9 percent of the vote with all precincts reporting on election night. In all, voters approved five measures and rejected six.

Local School Bonds: In addition to the local tax measures above, voters approved 60 of 67 local K-12 or community college construction bonds on November 2 ballots. They will raise more than $3.6 billion and require increases in property taxes.

The total includes passage of all 11 bonds for community college districts, totaling about $1.48 billion.

Sixty-four measures needed 55 percent approval, as allowed by Proposition 39 of 2000, which lowered the vote requirement from 66.67percent. Of these, 59 were successful.

Because they did not comply with limits of Proposition 39, three measures needed two-thirds votes – Panada Elementary (Merced County), Parlier Unified (Fresno County) and Sutter High School (Sutter County). Parlier succeeded; the others did not.

Bond measures also failed in Byron Elementary (Contra Costa County), Susanville (Lassen County), Orange Unified (Orange County), Beaumont Unified (Riverside County), and Hanford Joint Union High School (Tulare County).