Sales Tax Hike For Healthcare Appears Headed For Defeat In LA County

LOS ANGELES, CA — A proposed countywide half-cent sales tax intended to help fund healthcare services appeared headed for defeat Wednesday, as early election results showed voters rejecting the measure.

Measure ER, known as the Essential Services Restoration Act, would increase the county sales tax by one-half cent for five years, through Oct. 1, 2031, to help offset anticipated cuts in state and federal funding, according to county officials.

County officials estimated the measure would generate roughly $1 billion annually.

As of the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk's latest update at about 2 a.m. Wednesday:

• 560,180 voters, or 46.9%, voted in favor of the measure
• 634,410 voters, or 53.1%, opposed it.

Ballots will continue to be counted over the next two weeks.

The registrar's office said the next election update is expected between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. Wednesday.

• See an up-to-date vote count in the races for Los Angeles mayor and other local positions

Los Angeles County's current sales tax rate is 9.75%, though it's higher in some cities that have their own sales tax measures on the rolls.

If approved, Measure ER would raise the rate to 10.25%.

The county Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 in February to place the measure before voters. Supervisor Kathryn Barger cast the lone dissenting vote.

"Backfilling federal funding cuts on the backs of county taxpayers is not acceptable," Barger said at the time. "Los Angeles County residents are already stretched thin.

"Last year, Bloomberg News reported that Los Angeles now has the highest sales tax rates of any major metropolitan region in the nation. This proposed half-cent increase would push us even higher, making our county less affordable for families and less appealing for consumers to shop and businesses to operate. We are risking imposing higher everyday costs and small businesses and employers choosing to leave Los Angeles County altogether."

Supervisor Holly Mitchell argued that healthcare services in the county will face dire losses if no action is taken to restore funding that she said was slashed under the federal budget bill passed earlier this year, which she said was "the largest federal funding cut to Medicaid in our nation's history."

Last year's federal budget bill, known as the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," which was approved and signed by Congress and President Donald Trump, detailed billions of dollars of reductions in healthcare funding, according to the motion. Those reductions to Medi-Cal, coupled with eligibility changes, will impact county residents, who could face loss of coverage and reduced access to care.

County officials say money raised by Measure ER would be spent as follows:

• up to 45% would support the county Department of Health Services
• 5% would be allocated based on patient visits to nonprofit health agencies serving low-income and underserved populations
• about 4% would benefit school-based health needs and programs as determined by the governing board of L.A. Care Health Plan
• 10% would support the county Department of Public Health and its core public health functions
• about 3% would be allocated to the county Department of Public Social Services to support Medicaid outreach and enrollment activities, and volunteer programs
• 2.5% would go toward the Correctional Health Services
• some 22% would fund DHS to safeguard public hospitals and clinic services
• about 5% would be allocated to support nonprofit hospitals in the county, and provide funding to entities that meet certain criteria
• 2.5% would support in-home supportive services for seniors and people with disabilities
• about 1% would support the cities of Pasadena and Long Beach, which have separate Public Health Departments from the county
• any remaining funds would be disbursed in a need-based manner focused on emergency department volume.

City News Service contributed to this report.