Contra Costa Voters Back Growth Limits, Reject Taxes

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA — According to early results after Tuesday's election, Contra Costa County voters showed support for a measure to restrict urban development, and opposition to a proposed sales tax to fund healthcare and a parcel tax to fund a new library in El Cerrito.

Measure A seeks to renew the Urban Limit Line, a boundary that restricts urban development to 35% of the total county area until 2051. The remaining 65% of the county's area will be retained for non-urban and agricultural use.

The Board of Supervisors placed the measure on the ballot and penned an argument in favor of it. If passed, it would restrict urban development in areas like the hillsides to the east of Walnut Creek, Tassajara Valley, and swathes of land east of Mount Diablo State Park.

Measure B is a proposed sales tax that would raise $150 million annually to backfill federal funding cuts to healthcare and other essential services.

If passed, Measure B will institute a five-eighth-cent sales tax in incorporated and unincorporated areas of the county for a period of five years, in addition to the half-cent sales tax already in effect until 2041 after the approval of Measure X in 2020.

In El Cerrito, Measure C is a parcel tax to fund the construction of a new library in the city.

The Measure proposes an annual tax of up to $0.17 per square foot of built area to raise $3.1 million annually for the next 30 years.

All three measures require a simple majority to pass, and as of 9:38 p.m. 68.9% of voters have voted in support of Measure A, 41.38% for Measure B, and 27.17% for Measure C.

By Tanay Gokhale, Bay City News
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