The margin remained razor-thin Friday on a ballot measure to raise the city’s sales tax to support infrastructure funding, but voters appeared to have turned it down.
As of Friday, “no” votes led by more than 9,000 – a margin of a little more than 1.7% – with the lead growing slightly since the last count. There are around 56,000 ballots left to be processed countywide.
Measure E, known as the San Diego Transaction and Use Tax, would increase the tax on transactions in the city by 1%, bringing the total sales tax to 8.75%.
The current rate in the city, 7.75%, leaves it tied for the fourth-lowest of the state’s 482 municipalities and lower than nine of the county’s 18 cities, according to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration.
The additional $400 million raised by the proposal can legally go to a wide range of city needs, including infrastructure projects, core services and general spending, money desperately needed to maintain San Diego, officials said.
“In its Fiscal Year 2025-2029 Five-Year Capital Infrastructure Planning Outlook, the city has identified critical infrastructure maintenance and construction needs in areas such as the city’s roads, sidewalks, streetlights, parks, libraries and other facilities totaling $9.25 billion over the next five fiscal years,” according to a city policy paper, which also noted that the amount does not include the costs of maintaining public safety services.
Other cities in San Diego County also had money measures on the ballot, with El Cajon, La Mesa and Oceanside looking for renewals of existing sales taxes and other municipalities, Encinitas, Escondido, Lemon Grove, San Marcos, Santee and San Diego County, seeking to add additional taxes.
All of the proposals have a time limit, ranging from 10-20 years. The city of San Diego’s ballot measure would continue “until ended by voters, requiring citizen oversight and independent audits,” the ballot measure reads. The open-ended timeline and the range of what the funds could potentially be used for worried opponents.
