Editorial | Yes on SC County Measure E sales tax hike; Yes on Measure D, ocean and shoreline protection

View the full article from Santa Cruz Sentinel.

If it’s an election, there’s another tax hike on the ballot, right?

But sometimes raising taxes is the best option. Measure E is just such a choice. It asks voters to approve a 0.5% (half-cent) supplemental general sales tax increase for five years.

It was placed on the ballot by the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors to combat sweeping cuts in federal and state safety-net funding. The county projects an overall loss of $200 million.

The tax is estimated to generate $27 million annually. Santa Cruz County CEO Nicole Coburn told the Editorial Board this revenue will directly offset federal and state budget cuts to local healthcare, mental healthcare and food and housing security programs and help ensure local hospitals and emergency rooms stay open, along with safety-net clinics — vital as more than 30% of local residents on Medi-Cal insurance are due to lose coverage next year.

All the funds generated would stay under local county control rather than being diverted to the state or federal government. The tax is due to sunset in five years and needs 50% plus one vote to pass.

We take county officials at their word that the funds will be used for the specific purposes they’ve outlined.

At the same time we get that opponents wonder, where does this end? You can read local Republican Mike Lelieur’s op-ed published today urging a No vote on E, outlining how he feels the county’s track record doesn’t bode well for how funds raised through this increase will be used.

Because it is a general tax rather than a special tax, the revenue goes directly into the county’s general fund and opponents argue this means the money could technically be legally allocated toward any government expense — such as government worker salary hikes or pension obligations — rather than being strictly locked into healthcare and emergency services. Critics also argue that county leadership should first address internal government spending, non-competitive contract awards, and budget mismanagement before asking taxpayers to bail out budget shortfalls.

It’s also no secret that sales taxes are regressive, hitting lower-income residents the hardest on everyday purchases in a county where the cost of living is already extremely high.

All these arguments are worth considering — but so is this: county government is charged with ensuring the health and welfare safety net is there for those who need it the most. The Trump administration has made cuts that make this increasingly difficult.

A half-cent hike in the sales tax is a worthwhile means to keep services somewhat viable.

Yes on Measure E.

Yes on Measure D, coastal onshore development

Measure D also is a countywide vote on the Nov. 3 ballot. The measure asks voters whether the county should require a majority vote from the public before approving any land-use or zoning changes for onshore facilities that support deep-sea or seabed mining. It serves as an update to the county’s historic Measure A, passed by voters in 1986, which established similar voter-approval protections for onshore infrastructure supporting offshore oil and gas drilling. Save Our Shores then led the effort to pass 25 similar ordinances up and down the California coast, together known as the “Blue Wall,” which has held for nearly four decades.

Supporters — including local environmental groups, community activists and the county supervisors who referred it to the ballot — say Measure D will act as a necessary shield for the local coastline. They argue that the Trump Administration is aggressively expanding offshore oil leasing, undermining renewable energy, and opening federal waters to critical mineral mining, all framed as national security. California, and specifically the Central Coast, is a primary target.

Measure D modernizes and legally strengthens the 1986 county ordinance so it holds up under current state and federal law. It also closes a gap by extending protection to deep-sea mining, which the original language never anticipated. Local onshore ordinances are the one lever Santa Cruz voters control directly, since offshore development requires onshore infrastructure to function.

There is no organized local opposition to Measure D.

Vote Yes on Measure D, which is all about who gets to decide what happens on Santa Cruz’s coast.