Tax measures from five different areas of the county will pass if vote count percentages hold, funding everything from road repair to a new ambulance station, according to preliminary election results.
After receiving a $1 million grant toward a new ambulance station in August, the Cambria Community Healthcare District placed C-24 on the district’s ballot asking voters for another $6 million to complete the project.
Cambria’s current 67-year-old ambulance station has electrical and plumbing issues but is also the community’s closest resource, with the nearest hospital 30 miles away. If passed, C-24 would provide funding to build a new facility by increasing property taxes by $7.90 per $100,000 of a property’s assessed value—an estimated annual $50 increase on average per household, according to Healthcare District board member Laurie Mileur.
According to the SLO County Clerk-Recorder’s most recent vote counts from Nov. 8, 75 percent of Cambria voters are in favor of the measure. C-24 requires at least two-thirds of votes to pass it—or 66.6 percent.
This year, the statewide Proposition 5 was also on the ballot. If passed, the proposition would allow local bonds for affordable housing and public infrastructure to pass at 55 percent. It looks unlikely that Proposition 5 will pass, as Nov. 8 totals show only 45 percent of California voters in support of it.
Cambria resident and C-24 advocate Jessica Scarffe told New Times she hopes that it will officially pass.
“I’m feeling really good about it. I mean, while we’re still awaiting the final numbers; we do think it looks good. And from my perspective, being I was involved the last time around when we tried this, and we did very well,” she said, referring to when the district first tried to pass a similar measure in 2022 but was 5 percent short.
Scarffe said she advocated for the measure to improve the working conditions of local health care workers.
“Our EMTs and paramedics are living in conditions that are certainly not what they deserve. I’ll say that and the facility, … it’s just not up to par,” she said.
While community members can’t advocate for better salaries or benefits for the workers, Scarffe said that they can advocate for better working conditions through this bond.
“We talk a lot in our society about honoring first responders,” she said. “And these are the folks that are coming out in the middle of the night when we have an emergency, and I think that it’s the least we can do to give them a decent place of employment.”
Sales tax measures, which require 55 percent of voter approval, were on ballots in Arroyo Grande, Pismo Beach, Atascadero, and Paso Robles.
E-24 asks Arroyo Grande voters for a 1 percent sales tax increase to fix potholes and maintain city infrastructure with a 10-year sunset clause. The measure was passing as of Nov. 8 with 65 percent alongside Pismo Beach’s ask for a half-cent sales tax increase, F-24, which was passing with 62 percent.
Paso Robles’ I-24 asks to extend the city’s existing half-cent sales tax passed in 2020 to improve deteriorating roads. The half-cent tax is set to expire in 2025. If I-24 passes, the measure is expected to generate $6.5 million in revenue per year and has no expiration date. It had support from 56 percent of the city’s voters, as of Nov. 8.
Atascadero’s L-24 also asks voters to extend the city’s half-cent sales tax for roads that expires in 2027. The measure had 70 percent approval and is expected to generate another $3 million annually for road repair, according to the city’s website. Δ
This article appears in Nov 14-24, 2024.
