San Luis Obispo County isn’t willing to risk repeating failure when it comes to a half-cent sales tax measure to build better roads.
Acting as the local transportation authority, the SLO Council of Governments (SLOCOG) requested that the Board of Supervisors withdraw the order of election for Measure H, known as the SLO County Local Pothole Repair, Traffic Relief, Road Safety Measure.
The removal request came on behalf of measure proponent Better Roads for All SLO County whose political campaign consultants warned of bad timing.
“Our consultants really encouraged us to stand down because the political climate had shifted so dramatically from the beginning of the year to the middle of the year,” campaign Chair Jorge Aguilar told New Times. “With the economic pressures that have unfolded over the course of the year, they said the climate right now for the election really isn’t ready to accept another tax measure even for something as important as infrastructure.”
Measure H would have needed a two-thirds supermajority of 66.7 percent of the vote to pass in November. Aguilar pointed to tax measures in Monterey and Santa Barbara counties that failed to garner that volume of votes in the June primary election.
During a special meeting on Aug. 5, supervisors unanimously approvedremoving Measure H from the ballot—undoing a June resolution that called for the special election to be consolidated with the statewide general election in November.
“By this motion today, we continue to be a loser county, losing millions of dollars in matching funds that Santa Barbara, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Ventura … do get because they have their self-help half [cent] sales tax,” 3rd District Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg said.
Responsible for footing the bill for conducting the Measure H election, SLOCOG will save almost $600,000 thanks to the decision.
The proposed 0.5 percent sales tax increase to the county’s existing 7.25 percent rate was presented as a self-help tool. More than half of the revenue would have been dedicated to local road repairs, safety, and improvements.
The rest would have been split among regional corridor improvements and transportation services for seniors, veterans, and people with mobility issues. Only 1 percent of the revenue would be committed for administration, according to the expenditure plan.
The tax increase was anticipated to rake in roughly $35 million a year for SLO County.
SLOCOG previously told New Times that 89 percent of Californians, spread out over 25 counties, pay into voter-approved transportation taxes. The counties used the tax funds to leverage grants of even higher value and double the money available for local road improvements.
SLO County’s power to nab state grants is neutralized without additional funds from a similar sales tax, SLOCOG said.
Measure J, a tax measure that failed in 2016 by 440 votes, could have generated $270 million in taxes over the past nine years, according to SLOCOG Deputy Director James Worthley. It could have been used to leverage $430 million in state grants.
“We’re still falling behind on transportation investments,” Worthley said. “The federal government isn’t coming to save us anytime soon. … The next step really is SLOCOG will have to regroup, figure out what next steps are, and work toward a long-term solution.”
SLOCOG also hesitated in 2024. The agency discussed a similar sales tax measure in response to a $2.3 billion shortfall in transportation funding. But Worthley said with four SLO County cities already looking to renew or increase their local sales tax at the time, SLOCOG decided to bow out.
Not everyone was sad to see the Measure H go. At the supervisors meeting, 1st District Supervisor John Peschong expressed support for pulling the measure.
“I am glad that this is being removed from the ballot. I have not voted for this since the very beginning [Measure J],” he said. “Sales tax does disproportionately hurt people in the lower income brackets when you put these types of tax measures on.”
Aguilar with Better Roads for All, who also supported Measure J and the tax proposed in 2024, told New Times this isn’t the end.
“We have a bigger coalition than we’ve ever had, including in 2016, that we could move forward in the future election with,” he said. “We’re going to keep our eye on 2028 and see if that’s the right time.” ∆
This article appears in Education Today 2026.
