Sales Tax Increase In California

A Sacramento sales tax increase may be on the November 2020 ballot for local residents. The draft proposal, referred to as Measure A, intends to raise $8 billion over the next 40 years to bring improvements to issues like transportation, climate change, and even homelessness. For voters, these developments come at a cost. In order to raise the necessary funds to cover everything within the proposal, city and county leaders propose increasing the local sales tax a half a cent. If approved, the new tax would increase the total Sacramento sales tax to a total of 9 cents per dollar.

However, the likelihood of this proposal even being placed on the November 2020 ballot is beginning to look very slim. Measure A is simply a revamp of Measure B, which was placed on the November 2016 ballot and received 65% of the vote, just 2% under the required 67% to pass by state law. Additionally, the new tax would be 3rd active transportation related tax within the last two decades. Back in 2004, voters approved a 30-year Sacramento sales tax that increased sales tax by a half-cent. In 2018, California officials increased the state’s gas tax from 41.7 cents to 47.3 cents.
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