Careers & Education

Voters Narrowly Reject Sales Tax to Fund CA County FFs

March 28, 2020

Measure G would have generated around $51 million annually for some three dozen Sonoma County fire agencies, but it just fell short of receiving the two-thirds majority needed to pass.

By Chantelle Lee

Source The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, Calif.

Sonoma County election results were finalized Friday night, revealing that a proposed half-cent sales tax to fund county firefighting services failed by a small margin.

In total, 187,208 ballots were counted in the election, bringing turnout to about 67% of registered voters, according to the county’s website.

Measure G was expected to generate about $51 million annually for some three dozen fire agencies. It needed a two-thirds majority to pass, but it fell just short of the threshold, receiving nearly 65% of the vote.

Fire officials had been expecting the result, but were still holding out hope over the last few weeks — as more ballots were counted and the results inched closer to the threshold — that it could pass. The loss is the latest blow to local fire agencies that had hoped to use the funding to bolster wildfire response and prevention efforts.

A proposed 30-year extension of Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit’s current quarter-cent tax also failed. The measure, which needed a two-thirds majority to pass, received only 52% of the vote in Sonoma County.

Meanwhile, all five public school bond measures on the ballot — which will improve the infrastructure of schools in Santa Rosa, Geyserville, Sebastopol and Healdsburg — surpassed the 55% majority they needed to succeed.

Measure B, a $79 parcel tax over the course of eight years for the West Sonoma County Union High School District, also passed, receiving nearly 69% of the vote when it required a two-thirds majority. The funds will be used to improve career technical education and arts programs, as well as support raises for teachers and staff in the district.

Results for the three county supervisor races held up, with incumbents Susan Gorin and Lynda Hopkins keeping their seats after receiving about 62% and 82% of the vote, respectively. The tightest race in this election was for District 3, which former Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Coursey won over incumbent Supervisor Shirlee Zane, with 52% of the vote.

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