Yuba City voters appear to reject 1% sales tax to fix roads, fund public safety

Drivers hoping for better roads throughout Yuba City may have to wait.

That’s the message voters sent by apparently knocking down a 1% sales tax measure that would have gone toward road repairs and public safety investments throughout the city.

Sutter County officials are still counting the relatively small number of ballots that remain for Measure D. But more than 53% have voted against bumping the sales tax in the city up to an 8.25% rate, based on more than 33,700 ballots counted as of the latest Sutter County elections office update Thursday afternoon.

That has led Yuba City Mayor Shon Harris to conclude it will not pass.

“Either they don’t want better roads or they, simply due to mistrust in government, don’t believe the situation is as dire as it is,” said Harris said. “In a matter of time they’re going to find out we weren’t kidding.”

City officials sought the tax in response to a developing budget crunch in recent years paired with deteriorating roadways throughout the city. In addition to financing roadwork, revenue from the tax, estimated at about $17.5 million a year, would have also gone toward public safety efforts, such as addressing homelessness and building a new firehouse.

Revisiting budgets

In light of what appears to a defeat of the measure, department heads are revisiting their budgets and preparing for potential cutbacks, although the nature of any cuts remains unclear, Harris said.

The city and Sutter County came to an unorthodox agreement to split the new revenue, with two thirds going to the city and the remaining third to the county. The deal also included an arrangement for divvying up dollars collected above what was budgeted annually from the tax.

The sales tax measure was supported by city officials, who put it on the ballot and formally endorsed it, and county officials who worked with the city to broker the proposed revenue split.

The latest effort followed an unsuccessful ballot measure, led by Sutter County officials, for a county-wide penny tax that voters narrowly rejected two years ago.

State-minimum threshold

The 7.25% sales tax in Yuba City puts it among eight California cities at the state-minimum threshold, according to city officials. Had voters approved the tax, the city’s sales tax would have matched neighboring Marysville and Yuba County, which each have an 8.25% rate.

The will of Yuba City voters stands in contrast to Marysville voters, who overwhelmingly supported Measure G, an extension of their city’s penny tax voted into place a decade ago, with nearly 75% of votes in favor, as of a Yuba County elections office tally Wednesday.

In that case, voters across the Feather River supported keeping public services at a familiar tax rate, rather than dropping services along with a penny on each dollar spent.

“It’s unfortunate, in my opinion, that people didn’t see the need for the additional revenue,” Harris said.