UDPATE: November 9, 2016:
San Luis Obispo County's ballot measure creating a half-cent sales tax to raise money for local roads and infrastructure is just shy of approval.
Ron De Carli with the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG) said Wednesday that there are as many as 30,000 provisional ballots left to count. He said while the Measure J vote is close, its passage looks doubtful.
"You would almost have to have four-to-one in support, and I think that's very unlikely," said De Carli. "We received a very, very high number — 65 percent — which would be a landslide under a normal election, but with a tax measure there's a state requirement for a 67 percent vote; we're about two percentage points off, which means it fails."
Meanwhile, a similar measure in Monterey County, Measure X, had on Wednesday night a fraction of a point more than what's needed to pass.
Santa Barbara County already has a sales tax in place for this purpose and has for several years.
Original Story:
San Luis Obispo County’s Measure J — known as a “Self-Help tax” that was on the ballot is currently sitting at less than a half a percent below the approval mark.
The measure’s revenue would go towards local transportation infrastructure.
The measure, which is a county-wide half percent sales tax increase needs to have a supermajority vote in order to pass. California requires a two-thirds majority vote of sales tax approvals for special projects like this one.
Under the plan, over half of the funds raised would be returned to local cities and the County to pay for projects designated by each municipality.
The rest would fund regional projects, bike and pedestrian safety projects, and public transportation.
The tax was projected to raise a total of $225 million over the course of nine years.
Neighboring Santa Barbara County is already a self-help county.
