Message delivered, loud and clear: Fresno County voters say ‘no’ to new sales taxes
At a time when a healthy loaf of bread costs $6.99, Fresno voters didn’t have the stomach for taxes.
Both countywide measures that would’ve increased or extended sales taxes appear headed for defeat at the ballot box. City of Fresno residents also shot down a tax increase to support veterans.
Measure C, a proposed 30-year extension of the county’s half-cent transportation tax, had 58.1% voter approval in the latest ballot count, but needs a two-thirds majority to pass.
Measure E, which would raise sales taxes by two-tenths of a cent to benefit Fresno State, was trailing 53.8% to 46.2%. Because it was placed on the ballot by citizen petition, the initiative only requires a simple majority.
Measure M, the Fresno City Council-sponsored Veterans Support Measure, garnered 59.2% approval, but needs a two-thirds majority.
Those percentages, based on the latest returns, reflect 122,779 ballots tabulated, or 25.3% of all registered voters. Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters James Kus told The Bee “a 40% turnout appears realistic” and about 40,000 ballots had yet to be counted as of Wednesday afternoon.
The county’s next election update is planned for 5 p.m. Thursday. Mail-in ballots postmarked by election day have a week to arrive.
While Measure C proponents, a group that included Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer, majorities of the City Council and the Fresno County Board of Supervisors and the Fresno Chamber of Commerce, campaigned on a platform of road maintenance without raising taxes, voters weren’t persuaded to renew a tax that doesn’t expire until 2027.
Well-funded opposition led by community-based organizations and liberal politicians, as well as a diverse coalition that included the county chapters of both the Democratic and Republican parties, surely didn’t help.
In an emailed statement, Dyer called for the two sides to come together and formulate a transportation measure for the 2024 ballot they could both agree upon.
“All Fresno County residents deserve nothing less,” Dyer wrote.
Fresno County sales tax rate remains 7.975%
Likewise, voters weren’t persuaded to approve a 20-year sales tax to fund new facilities and expanded programs at Fresno State. It could be the economy, or perhaps there was a general unease about supporting a tax measure almost entirely bankrolled by a rich developer/construction company owner. No matter their ties or allegiance to the university.
By contrast, zero campaign dollars were spent supporting (or opposing) Measure M, which would have provided $19.5 million annually over the next 20 years to fund veterans programs and facilities.
By virtue of the rejected tax measures, the sales tax and use rate for Fresno County will remain at 7.975%. The city of Fresno’s tax rate is 8.35% thanks to special taxes for parks, arts and trails (Measure P) and the Chaffee Zoo (Measure Z).
The county’s highest sales tax rate can be found in Reedley (9.225%), followed by Coalinga, Fowler, Kerman, Kingsburg and Parlier (each at 8.975%).
Fresno County’s only successful sales tax measure came in Mendota, where “yes” votes enjoyed a 17% edge in the latest count. Meanwhile, voters in Clovis and Kerman overwhelmingly approved hikes to their city’s tax on hotel and motel rooms.
Which goes to show that even though Fresno County residents may not want to pay more taxes themselves, they don’t mind foisting them on business travelers and tourists.
