Santa Cruz County voters will decide Nov. 3 on Measure E, a temporary half-cent sales tax that county leaders say is needed to make up for shrinking federal money for health care and safety-net programs.
What the measure does
Measure E would raise the sales tax by one-half percent across the whole county, including its cities, for five years. According to County Counsel Jason Heath's impartial analysis, the tax would take effect April 1, 2027, and run through April 1, 2032. The county estimates it would bring in about $6.75 million in the 2026-27 fiscal year and about $27 million a year after that. The Pajaronian reported the total over the life of the tax at about $135 million, and noted it would not apply to groceries, prescriptions and other essentials, which are already exempt from sales tax in California.
The money would go into the county's general fund and could legally be spent on any government purpose. It needs a simple majority to pass.
Why the county says it needs it
The Board of Supervisors placed the measure on the ballot along with a resolution declaring the county to be in fiscal distress. The ordinance points to federal actions including H.R. 1, the budget law often called the One Big Beautiful Bill, which it says cuts local funding for health care, nutrition aid, mental health and substance use treatment, housing and public health while shifting more work to counties.
On its federal impacts page, the county says H.R. 1 is reducing federal funding for county programs by more than $25 million a year, with deeper cuts hitting local providers and nonprofits as more provisions phase in starting in 2027. The Pajaronian reported that the law is expected to cost community services in the county about $200 million a year overall.
How the money would be used
The ballot question lists keeping local hospitals and emergency rooms open, protecting ambulance response, sustaining access to urgent, reproductive and mental health care, and supporting food and housing assistance. Supervisors have said they will prioritize those areas, though final spending would be set in the county's annual budget.
Supporters include Santa Cruz Community Health, the Watsonville Community Hospital Foundation, Community Bridges and the Community Action Board, according to the Pajaronian.