{"id":3073,"date":"2026-06-26T10:39:06","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T10:39:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3073"},"modified":"2026-06-26T10:39:06","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T10:39:06","slug":"walters-voters-in-deep-blue-california-are-souring-on-ballot-measures-that-add-new-taxes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3073","title":{"rendered":"Walters: Voters in deep blue California are souring on ballot measures that add new taxes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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California is a blue state, and one of the manifestations of its political orientation has been a tolerance for one of the nation\u2019s highest levels of taxation.<\/p>\n

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The state\u2019s tax rates on retail sales and personal and corporate incomes are among the highest of any state. Although tax rates on real estate are relatively moderate, high property values still translate into high bills for their owners.<\/p>\n

Specific taxes, such as those on fuel, utilities, cigarettes, liquor, medical care, gambling, guns and ammunition, contribute even more. Overall, state and local governments and school districts collect around $400 billion in taxes every year, more than $10,000 per Californian,\u00a0according to the Tax Foundation.\u00a0That\u2019s the fifth-highest per capita burden nationwide.<\/p>\n

The state budget now being hammered out behind closed doors contains a raft of relatively minor taxes, such as a\u00a0new one on managed health care services, and another on software.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, dozens of local governments are seeking voter approval of new sales and parcel taxes. The\u00a0November ballot could contain\u00a0several tax-related measures, some that would increase levies, and some that would curb tax hikes.<\/p>\n

Collectively, they test the appetite of California voters for raising the state\u2019s tax burden, and there\u2019s some evidence that their tolerance is waning.<\/p>\n

In May, the Public Policy Institute of California asked a sample of the state\u2019s voters how they would address the state\u2019s chronic budget deficits and was told that 55% of them \u201cwant to pay lower taxes and have a state government that provides fewer services,\u201d as researcher Dean Bonner put it. Even among Democrats, solving the state\u2019s deficits mostly through taxes drew only 10% support.<\/p>\n

A couple of weeks after the poll was taken, California had a primary election that included 92 local measures that would either increase taxes directly or approve bond issues that would automatically increase local property taxes to repay them. Only 57.5% of them were approved, the\u00a0California Taxpayers Association calculated, a sharp drop from the 70% increase level of other recent elections.<\/p>\n

Read more Asking Eric: My sister tried to butt in to my neighbor hangouts<\/a><\/p>\n

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Interestingly \u2014 and perhaps importantly \u2014 voters\u2019 sourer attitude about taxes was even evident in notoriously progressive San Francisco. Its\u00a0voters rejected Proposition D, which would have increased the city\u2019s tax on large corporations whose executives are paid 100 times or more of rank-and-file employees, and Proposition C, which would have boosted the city\u2019s gross receipts tax on businesses.<\/p>\n

Tax increases in two other Democratic regions also bit the dust: a new tax on vacant residential properties in San Diego and a sales tax hike in Contra Costa County. Voters in Los Angeles County passed a sales tax increase for healthcare, but only by a paper-thin margin.<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s behind what appears to be a shift among California\u2019s voters, who are overwhelmingly Democrats? It\u2019s probably a reaction to the state\u2019s ever-increasing costs of living.<\/p>\n

The same revelatory PPIC poll about taxes also\u00a0found that Californians are worried about inflation.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMore than four in ten Californians (44%) identified the cost of living and the economy as the most important issue facing the state; the second most commonly chosen issue was housing costs and availability (14%),\u201d the pollsters revealed. \u201cEconomic anxiety has continued to grow in recent years; today, three in four Californians expect difficult economic times ahead for the state. About seven in ten or more across parties, regions, and demographic groups are pessimistic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pessimistic voters tend to reject measures that would increase their living costs. We\u2019ll find out much they dislike taxes in November.<\/p>\n

Read more Harriette Cole: Your kid isn\u2019t ready for the Marines? Well, who is?<\/a><\/p>\n

Dan Walters is a CalMatters columnist.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In June’s primary, nearly 58% of the 92 local measures that would raise taxes were approved<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\nWalters: Voters in deep blue California are souring on ballot measures that add new taxes - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3073\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Walters: Voters in deep blue California are souring on ballot measures that add new taxes - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In June's primary, nearly 58% of the 92 local measures that would raise taxes were approved\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3073\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-26T10:39:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3073#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3073\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Walters: Voters in deep blue California are souring on ballot measures that add new taxes\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-26T10:39:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3073\"},\"wordCount\":640,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3073#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/72869f36254ed91b74ee964a1cf79477.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Opinion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3073#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3073\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3073\",\"name\":\"Walters: Voters in deep blue California are souring on ballot measures that add new taxes - 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