A new half-cent sales tax that Sonoma County voters approved support for firefighting efforts earlier this year came into force on October 1.

Now Sonoma County voters are being asked to decide the fate of two more countywide sales tax measures. One would extend an existing sales tax indefinitely, while the other would impose a new tax if approved.

Voters in Sonoma, Sebastopol and Cloverdale also have a third municipal sales tax increase on their ballots.

And many voters across the country will weigh in on school bonds – there are nine in all – which aim to raise a total of $584 millionprimarily to fund campus modernization through an annual surcharge on property tax bills.

Beyond that, there are two government bond initiatives, including Prop. 2, which would raise additional taxes to fund K-12 and community college upgrades And Prop. 4, which would fund new climate resilience, water and wildfire protection projects.

Countywide Tax Measures

But let’s return to local tax measures. Sonoma County has seven countywide sales tax measures that voters have approved and expanded since 1990.

The last of these measures, a half-cent sales tax to raise additional funds for fire protection and fire personnelcame into force this month. He increased the sales tax charged to consumers countywide by 0.5 percentage points, the equivalent of 50 cents for every $100 spent.

In this election, voters are being asked to renew one of the existing taxes, supporting the county library system, and add another tax to increase child care staff and programs and strengthen services health care for children.

The fiscal renewal of the library system, Measurement W, calls for an indefinite extension of the 8-cent sales tax that helped increase staffing and hours and fund upgrades at all 15 branches.

The initial sales tax measure, Measure Y, passed in 2016 with 72% of voters in favor. It has raised about $16 million a year – about $85 million to date – and revenue now represents about 40 percent of the library’s operating budget.

There are still two years of funding left for this measure, so renewal could return to the ballot if Measure W fails to secure the two-thirds majority required to pass.

The second of the countywide sales tax measures is a proposed quarter-cent increase that would raise more than $30 million annually to strengthen local affordable child care and health care programsaccording to the Santa Rosa-based campaign. Without an expiration date, it would remain in effect until voters overturn it via another ballot measure.

Measure I proposes devoting 60% of revenue to child care, including employee compensation, workforce growth and expansion of the child care network as a whole. The remaining 40% would be dedicated to health and early childhood development programs, including perinatal and early childhood mental health, pediatric screening and treatment, and helping children facing issues such as ‘homelessness.

It has no formal opposition and only needs a simple majority to pass as it came to the vote via a signature collection campaign.

Municipal sales taxes on the ballot

In Sonoma, Measurement Tis a proposed half-cent sales tax increase to fund essential city services and meet deficit at City Hall.

It would increase the city’s sales tax rate from 9.5% to 10% — and the countywide measure would raise it to 10.25%, hitting the current state cap for County Sonoma and its cities.

Measure T would generate an additional $3 million annually to fund public safety, affordable housing programs and the creation of a parks and recreation department, something Sonoma does not have.

City votes passed a similar half-cent general-purpose sales tax hike in 2012 and extended it in 2016 and 2020, without a decline. Measure T would also remain in effect until repealed by voters if it were put to an upcoming City Council ballot or citizen initiative.