Measure E, sales tax to support Fresno State upgrades, loses ground in updates

The Fresno County tax measure that would generate an estimated $36 million for academic and infrastructure upgrades at Fresno State lost ground in a third update on election night.

To pass, the measure must receive 50% plus one vote from county voters. But with more than 122,000 or 25.3% of the votes tabulated, no votes totaled 53.8% and yes votes were at 46.2%. The margin was 9,304 votes.

“Yes” was trailing by 3,175 in the initial results from the county, then 6,037 votes in a second update.

The measure, backed by construction company owner Richard Spencer and the Fresno State Improvement Zone Committee, would increase sales and use tax in the county by 0.2% and 0.25% in Reedley for a period of 20 years or one penny on a $5 purchase. It would apply to gross receipts of all retail sales and all tangible personal property sold at retail in the county, and to the sales price of tangible personal property purchased from any retailers for the storage, use or other consumption in the county of that property.

A five-member citizens’ oversight committee appointed by the Fresno County Board of Supervisors would control the use of the tax funds to ensure they are used consistent with the measure, oversee the issuance of bonds and provide an annual audit report.

Two-thirds of the tax funds would go to academic facilities and programs including nursing, agriculture, criminology and engineering/STEM programs, provide scholarships for local and low-income students and repair and upgrade campus infrastructure in dire need of renovation.

No more than one-third of the funds would go to athletics facilities, including an aged Valley Children’s Stadium.

If approved, the county would be authorized to issue and sell bonds of up to $500 million in aggregated principal at interest rates below the legal limit over a 20-year term. Proceeds from the sale would be used for design, construction, renovation or modernization of facilities on campus and within a 2-mile radius of its boundaries.

Bond proceeds may also be used to acquire property for future facilities.

Big contributor to Yes on Measure E campaign

Spencer, a frequent contributor school bond measures, has donated around $1.5 million to the campaign.

His firm, Harris Construction, built the Jordan Agricultural Research Center at the university. The California State University system, and not Fresno State, would vet and choose bids for any projects on campus.

Fresno State, like many CSU campuses, has a long list of deferred maintenance projects and university president Saúl Jimenéz-Sandoval said the 23-campus system has $1 billion deferred maintenance. The latest state budget included just $125 million in one-time funds.

Measure E came together quickly over the summer. Proponents of any measure or initiative have 180 days to collect signatures, but starting in June the Fresno State Improvement Zone Committee needed just six weeks to gather more than 25,000 verified signatures 10% of the number of votes cast in the last gubernatorial election.

Fresno County Clerk James Kus in August said random sample testing showed that at least 28,095 petition signatures proved valid, putting the measure over 110% of signatures needed for certification. The board of supervisors voted unanimously at its regularly-scheduled Aug. 9 meeting to include the measure on the ballot.

This story was originally published November 8, 2022 at 8:28 PM.