{"id":5623,"date":"2026-07-27T22:10:06","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T22:10:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5623"},"modified":"2026-07-27T22:10:06","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T22:10:06","slug":"prop-43-would-make-some-local-taxes-harder-to-pass-whats-at-stake-in-the-bay-area","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5623","title":{"rendered":"Prop. 43 would make some local taxes harder to pass. What\u2019s at stake in the Bay Area?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Following a wave of new voter-approved tax increases that reached the ballot through the signature-gathering process in recent years, a statewide initiative before voters in November aims to make it more difficult to pass special taxes.<\/p>\n

Read more Brad Pitt spotted in famed Carmel bar amid family challenges<\/a><\/p>\n

Known as Proposition 43, the measure would set the threshold to impose or extend a tax earmarked for specific purposes at a two-thirds vote. The new rules would apply to special taxes driven by the citizens\u2019 initiative petition process, which currently can be approved by a simple majority \u2014 special taxes placed on the ballot by a local government already require the higher threshold.\u00a0If the proposition passes, it would take effect Jan. 1, 2027, and would not impact taxes that have already passed.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Election 2026: All 14 propositions before California voters this year, explained<\/strong><\/p>\n

Advocates of the measure say it would close what they consider to be a \u201cloophole\u201d created by a 2017 California Supreme Court ruling, while opponents are sounding the alarm that it will make it more difficult to raise local revenue for schools, libraries, parks, affordable housing and other critical services.<\/p>\n

In the Bay Area, several recently approved taxes, such as 2025 Measure B for healthcare and 2020 Measure C for childcare in Alameda County, as well as 2026 Measure D for open space preservation in Santa Clara County, would not have met the proposed bar \u2014 a signal that Proposition 43 could make it nearly impossible for these types of revenue measures to pass in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need the ability to fund our local services and we need to be able to do that with a simple majority like they do everywhere else,\u201d said Ben Grieff, the executive director of the nonprofit Evolve California that is campaigning against the measure. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to have this tyranny of the minority where 34% of the voters can vote down something that 60-plus percent of their neighbors support.\u201d<\/p>\n

Voters, however, have approved special taxes government agencies had put on the ballot requiring the two-thirds threshold. Those include Santa Clara County sales taxes in 2000, 2008 and 2016 for BART to Silicon Valley and other transportation needs, and Peralta Community College District parcel taxes in 2012, 2018 and 2026.<\/p>\n

The original version of the measure, which was proposed by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, sought to go further than what eventually made it on the ballot, prompting the governor\u2019s office, the state legislature and other groups to scramble to reach a compromise with the anti-tax group before last month\u2019s deadline.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere was a lot of pressure on the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association to pull it off the ballot,\u201d HJTA spokesperson Susan Shelley said.<\/p>\n

The group had spent nearly 10 years in court fighting a state Supreme Court decision that ruled special taxes placed on the ballot through the signature-gathering process need a simple majority to pass. Shelley said they saw it as a clear violation of Proposition 13 \u2014 the landmark 1978 law that capped property taxes and also required special taxes levied by local governments to receive two-thirds approval.<\/p>\n

The initial measure aimed to retroactively cancel all special taxes approved that hadn\u2019t met the two-thirds threshold. It also would have severely limited local transfer taxes \u2014 a tax on the sale of real estate \u2014 and voided past transfer taxes that were above the proposed cap. In San Jose, the city feared that it could lose out on more than $100 million annually it receives through a 2020 measure that has funded interim housing for homeless residents, potentially sending more than 2,000 people back on the streets.<\/p>\n

Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, ended up authoring the compromise that became Proposition 43 and quickly registered her opposition. Wicks was not available for an interview, but said in a recent social media post that \u201cpolitics doesn\u2019t always give you good choices. Sometimes the choice is between bad \u2014 and much worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cI authored (Prop. 43) not because I wanted it to become law \u2014 but because it was the only path left to get the more dangerous initiative off the ballot before time ran out,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

Read more Silver Creek grocery store in South San Jose to close<\/a><\/p>\n

The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst\u2019s Office said in a recent memo that if it passes, it would make it harder for local governments to pass certain taxes, however the revenue impact is \u201cunknown.\u201d<\/p>\n

Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg said she worries about the trickle-down effects of Proposition 43 as the county has already maxed out its ability to increase the sales tax locally. California has a 7.25% statewide sales tax base and then caps each county or district at an additional 2%, though state legislators can author legislation to increase that cap. Santa Clara County used up its last available increase in November when it passed Measure A \u2014 a 0.625% general sales tax increase.<\/p>\n

Ellenberg said that if local governments can\u2019t raise their own revenues, they might have to look more toward the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are not doing an excellent job of backfilling losses, for example right now H.R. 1 losses,\u201d Ellenberg said of the state and lost Medicaid revenues to counties from President Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cBig, Beautiful Bill.\u201d \u201cWe\u2019re only getting some one-time money for public hospitals, there\u2019s no money for indigent care, they\u2019re not stepping in to solve for that, which frankly is the state\u2019s responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adina Levin, the executive director of the pro-transit group Seamless Bay Area, said in an interview that the proposition \u201cposes a big risk to the ability to support the infrastructure it takes for our communities to thrive in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her organization has been backing a regional transit measure on the November ballot that would increase the sales tax in five Bay Area counties \u2014 Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties \u2014 to fund struggling transit systems. While Proposition 43 wouldn\u2019t impact the threshold it needs in November since it would go into effect next year, it\u2019s the same type of initiative that it aims to make more difficult to pass.<\/p>\n

Marc Joffe, the president of the Contra Costa Taxpayers Association, cited the transit measure as one he believes should be subjected to a two-thirds approval, accusing special interests of controlling the measure and paying for the signature-gathering campaign. He said there aren\u2019t any \u201corganic citizens groups\u201d looking to tax themselves more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think it\u2019s very unfair to the average taxpayer that special interests are able to pretend to be citizens groups and be able to pass tax increases at a lower threshold,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Levin said Joffe\u2019s remarks would come as a \u201cbig surprise to the 1,000 volunteers who were out gathering signatures and talking to community members at farmers markets, train station and bus stops.\u201d<\/p>\n

For government agencies that are increasingly feeling the pinch of their budgets, Joffe said \u201cthey need to live within that (sales tax) envelope, which is ever-expanding, it\u2019s just maybe not expanding at the rate that they would like.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shelley, with the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, said her message to the critics is that they can always pass general taxes with a simple majority.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re talking here about special taxes where the money is earmarked for a particular purpose, and they don\u2019t have to pass special taxes,\u201d she said. \u201cThey can pass general taxes and then they can appropriately prioritize the budget to fund the fire department and street repair and healthcare and whatever else is a top priority.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Half Moon Bay voters to decide fate of farmworker housing as state pressure mounts<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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