Voters reject more local tax hikes as costs squeeze households

California voters sent a clear warning to local governments: when everyday costs are high, more tax hikes become a harder sell. On the June 2 ballot, more than 110 local measures went before voters statewide, including 88 that affected local taxes, fees or charges, and preliminary results showed 53 of those 88 tax or bond measures passed.

That is about a 60% passage rate, and CalTax put the preliminary approval rate even lower, at 57.6%. Either way, the result fell well below the roughly 70% approval level that local tax measures have enjoyed in recent years, and far under the 76.9% passage rate for bond and tax measures in the 2024 general election and 69.0% in 2022.

The June ballot was packed with the kinds of asks that usually face voters in tight economic times: 21 add-on sales tax measures, 18 parcel taxes and 26 school bond measures seeking about $3.0 billion in construction financing. CalTax estimated the approved measures would add up to $301.7 million a year in new taxes, plus the property taxes needed to repay $745 million in bonds, with interest. The numbers point to a budget squeeze for schools, transit systems, cities and counties that are trying to cover payroll, maintenance and public services through the ballot box.

The clearest split came in Los Angeles County and Contra Costa County. Los Angeles County’s Measure ER, a half-cent sales tax for five years, cleared the 50% threshold by roughly 24,000 ballots and was expected to raise about $1 billion a year beginning Oct. 1, 2026. The measure excluded groceries and medications. In Contra Costa County, voters rejected a similar five-eighths-cent tax that would have generated about $150 million a year.

San Francisco’s union-backed Proposition D also failed. The so-called Overpaid CEO tax would have taxed businesses whose top executive makes more than 100 times the company’s median worker and was pitched as a way to help close the city’s roughly $600 million deficit. Supporters said it could protect services after federal cuts, while opponents, backed by a $5.8 million campaign, argued it could drive businesses away or discourage new openings. Supporters spent $2.7 million.

Taken together, the results suggest a tighter political climate for local revenue measures in California. Health care, housing, schools and municipal services still need money, but voters are showing less willingness to raise it through taxes that hit household budgets first.