Measure B Would Impose Perpetual Half-Cent Sales Tax Hike Across San Diego County; Voters Decide Nov. 3

San Diego County voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to raise the countywide sales tax by a half cent, a move that would generate up to $450 million a year for health care, child care, Tijuana River sewage fixes, and public safety — and would continue collecting the tax indefinitely.

Measure B, officially the San Diego County Health & Safety Act, would increase the sales tax rate from 7.75 percent to 8.25 percent in the City of San Diego and similarly across the county. The tax has no expiration date, a feature that has drawn sharp criticism from fiscal watchdogs.

"We just feel like that is a valuable taxpayer safeguard that really should have been in the measure," said Mark Kersey, executive director of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association, referring to the absence of a sunset clause.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 on June 25 to place the initiative on the ballot after the Registrar of Voters verified more than 167,000 signatures — well above the roughly 103,000 required. Supervisors Paloma Aguirre, Terra Lawson-Remer, and Monica Montgomery Steppe voted to certify the measure; Supervisors Joel Anderson and Jim Desmond voted no.

Where the money would go

The measure's official text earmarks the revenue into broad categories, with county administrators directing the funds each year:

- Up to 60 percent — roughly $240 million to $270 million — for health care, nutrition, food security, and child care programs, largely framed as backfilling federal cuts from the Trump administration's H.R. 1. - Up to 22.5 percent — roughly $90 million to $100 million — for Tijuana River Valley sewage crisis mitigation. - Up to 17.5 percent — roughly $70 million to $79 million — for public safety, wildfire prevention, and emergency response. - At least 1.5 percent — roughly $6 million — for administrative costs.

A 12-member citizen oversight committee would conduct annual spending audits, and the county auditor would serve as an ex-officio member. Critics note the committee would include representatives of groups that could receive funding from the measure.

"An oversight committee should not be made of people that are actually receiving the funding," Kersey said.

No sunset, union pay triggers

Unlike many local sales tax surcharges, Measure B has no expiration date. The campaign argues the crises it targets — wildfire prevention, 911 response, hospital funding, sewage infrastructure — require sustained multi-year investment. Opponents counter that sunset clauses create accountability by forcing supporters to ask voters to renew the tax.

Two county labor unions — SEIU Local 221 and Teamsters Local 986 — included clauses in their latest labor contracts that trigger reopened wage negotiations if voters pass a measure that "generates revenue for the county's general fund in 2026." Measure B explicitly bars using the new revenue for bonuses or salary increases for county managers or elected officials, but does not prevent pay hikes for rank-and-file workers.

"What we're being told is that the money is going to go towards people who have had CalFresh benefits and SNAP benefits and healthcare and other things cut by the federal government," Kersey said. "But if what's actually happening is that some of that money is going to get siphoned off to pay for worker salaries and pensions, you can make the case that that's a good use of the money, but I think people should know that one way or another."

SEIU President Crystal Irving defended the clause, saying the region faces "extreme staffing shortages in nursing, mental health professionals, and first responders" and the trigger gives workers "a voice in training and wages so that the county can recruit and retain the staff."

The opposition

Assemblymember Carl DeMaio and Supervisor Desmond are leading the "No on B" campaign.

"San Diego families are already being crushed by the cost of living, and now county politicians want to hit them with another massive tax increase," DeMaio said. "Measure B would take hundreds of millions of dollars more out of taxpayers' pockets every year without fixing the waste and mismanagement that have plagued county government."

The Yes on B campaign estimates the measure would cost a family of four less than $200 a year — an estimate Kersey did not dispute. But he raised another concern: the spending priorities locked into the measure cannot be changed without another vote.

"The priorities that they've locked in right now, those spending priorities will be the priorities in perpetuity," Kersey said.

What a vote means

Because Measure B is a citizen initiative, it requires only a simple majority — more than 50 percent — to pass, rather than the two-thirds threshold that applies to some government-placed tax measures.

A "yes" vote authorizes the half-cent levy with no end date. A "no" vote leaves the county sales tax at its current rate and leaves the programs reliant on existing federal, state, and county funding.

Early voting begins Oct. 24. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.