LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A general sales tax measure put before Lake County’s voters failed to receive a majority vote while one community’s specific tax for maintenance got resounding support, based on the preliminary vote county from Tuesday’s primary election.
Measure G, the 1.5-percent sales tax measure county leaders said was needed to address a shortfall in funding, received 38.3 percent, or 2,222 votes, in favor of it versus a 61.7-percent no vote that totaled 3,576 ballots, according to preliminary results.
With all 57 precincts reporting, the preliminary results indicated that the measure failed to get the majority it needed to go into effect.
The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously in March to place the measure on the ballot.
Initial estimates expected it would raise $4.5 million a year for 10 years, at which point it would sunset.
County officials held visioning meetings in the five supervisorial districts in January and said that polling of residents in those meetings and in a followup phone poll had indicated majority support for a sales tax measure.
Measure G is the latest in a series of failed sales tax measures that the county has put before voters.
Measure S, a 0.5-percent sales tax for 10 years to benefit the health of Clear Lake, failed in November 2014.
That measure was voted down months after a similar lake tax measure, Measure L, failed in the June 2014 primary. It also would have instituted a 0.5-percent tax.
In November 2012, a half-cent sales tax aimed at helping Clear Lake, Measure E, also was defeated.
It was a different story for another measure on Tuesday’s ballot, Measure F, which preliminary results showed received the needed majority support from residents of the Butler-Keys Community Service District.
Measure F received a 69.2-percent yes vote, which was 18 ballots, versus eight no votes, which accounted for 30.8 percent of the preliminary vote tally.
Measure F institutes a special annual tax of $50 per year per single lot within the Butler-Keys Community Services District for a period of four years, beginning in the 2018-19 fiscal year.
Funds raised from the measure will be used to maintain streets within the community services district. The measure also calls for the district to establish an annual appropriations limit in the amount of $9,250 for four fiscal years.
The election’s results won’t become officials until Lake County Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley finishes the certification process, which she has 30 days to complete.
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Election 2018: County’s Measure G sales tax fails to pass; Butler-Keys CSD measure gets go-ahead
- Elizabeth Larson
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