20 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY OCTOBER 1-7, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com MEASURE Q | MARINA UTILITY USERS TAX | YES Marina is growing, and has long been searching for a way to pay to modernize city facilities—specifically its police and fire departments, which now share a single building that doesn’t meet today’s state seismic standards, nor can it fit a modern fire truck in the garage. An estimate puts total replacement cost for the police station, fire station and city hall/council chambers at approximately $69 million, of which over $19 million is already secured through grants and impact fees, leaving a gap of roughly $50 million. Enter Measure Q. Unlike a failed 2024 bond measure to raise money for the same facilities— which received 60-percent approval but died because bonds require twothirds of the vote to pass—Measure Q is a utility users tax (UUT), requiring only a majority. It would establish a 7-percent levy on residents’ and businesses’ gas, electric, water, telecom and cable/video bills, including streaming. It is estimated that it would bring in about $3.8 million a year. Marina’s measure promises firefighters, EMTs, police, emergency response, and “general city services,” but there’s nothing in the ballot language that legally binds the City Council to fund these specific line items, something opponents lean on heavily in their arguments. While that may be reason for concern, the city needs revenue if its facilities are going to match the city government’s demonstrated operational success. According to a city calculator, the UUT would cost the average Marina household about $28.70 monthly, or $344 per year. (Low-income residents and qualifying seniors whose household income is less than 80 percent of the area median would be eligible for a 50-percent discount, paying a 3.5-percent UUT.) Opponents dismiss the rate as unfairly high, but the plan approximates UUTs in Seaside (6 percent), Watsonville (5.5 percent) and Salinas (5 to 6 percent, depending on utility). City surveys showed a public preference for a 7-percent UUT with a low-income discount, rather than a 5-percent flat rate. City Council incorporated that input to craft a proposal that is fair and that will work; the rest is up to voters. MEASURE R | PACIFIC GROVE SALES TAX | YES Pacific Grove’s streets, storm drains, and public safety departments don’t run on P.G. charm alone—they depend on funding, and the city doesn’t have enough of it. Measure R is a 0.375-percent tax. On a $20 sandwich, that’s about 7 cents. Like Marina and Carmel, Pacific Grove is also asking residents to help fund infrastructure and basic services. It sunsets in 10 years and it comes with mandatory independent audits, so residents can see exactly where the money is getting spent. A well-run city requires revenue to keep it healthy, and while there’s nothing glamorous about anything proposed, Measure R will help keep P.G. humming. MEASURE S | MONTEREY SALES TAX | YES The trend across local cities’ budgets is similar, but Monterey is looking at a particularly drastic $11.7 million structural deficit. That leaves city officials exploring two options: cutting spending and increasing revenue. Measure S is the City Council’s second attempt this year at asking voters to support the latter, with an option to extend the existing Measure S sales tax for another eight years, pushing its expiration from March 31, 2027 to March 31, 2035. The tax generates roughly $13 million annually, with all proceeds going into a restricted fund exclusively for local infrastructure—repairing roads, potholes and sidewalks, improving ADA accessibility, and upgrading the aging storm drain system. Because Measure S is a special tax, with revenue restricted to a defined purpose rather than flowing into the general fund, it requires two-thirds of the vote to pass. It’s also the more conservative of two revenue asks Monterey City Council put before voters this year: Measure D, which would have imposed a general 0.375-percent sales tax, failed in June. The council responded by scrapping other new revenue ideas and narrowing its November ballot ask to just Measure S. Given that it extends an existing tax rather than adding a new one, and is restricted to infrastructure rather than open-ended general fund spending, they are hoping it is more palatable to voters. The tax began as Measure P, which passed with 74 percent in 2014, and was renewed as Measure S in 2018. We hope residents see the benefit and help the city address the deficit in at least one way. Statewide Propositions PROP. 1 | AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOND | YES If approved, Proposition 1 authorizes the state to borrow a record $11.25 billion for affordable housing, with $10 billion to buy, build, rehabilitate and preserve affordable homes and $1.25 billion to help veterans buy homes. In a state with a housing crisis, this would provide needed relief, one part of a bigger puzzle to solving that crisis. This proposition, like all others, requires 50 percent (plus 1) to pass. PROP. 2 | RAINY DAY FUND | YES California lawmakers maneuvered out of a tough budget year for 2026-27 thanks in part to unexpectedly high revenue from AI and tech. This request for voter approval of a constitutional amendment addressing a more wonky piece of budgeting would help solve California’s budget problem longer term. It would allow the state to deposit up to 20 percent of general fund tax revenue into its rainy day fund each year, up from 10 percent currently, and pay down its $20 billion federal unemployment insurance debt. It’s a clever way of getting ahead of the next challenging budget cycle. PROP. 3 | EXTEND A TAX ON HIGH-INCOME EARNERS | YES This would make permanent the 2012 voter-approved income tax on high earners (household income over $721,000 for couples, or $360,000 for individuals), generating billions yearly for K-12 and community college education. If Prop. 3 fails, somewhere between $5 billion and $15 billion a year for schools will likely be lost after the existing measure expires in 2031. PROP. 4 | PUBLIC CAMPAIGN FINANCING | YES Public campaign financing helps curb the influence of private money in politics. Proposition 4 would give California governments authority to set up public financing systems for state and local candidates, ending a ban in place since 1988. PROP. 5 | RECALL PROCESS REFORM | YES The unsuccessful recall attempt of Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021 led to this proposition. Secretary of State Shirley Weber proposed the idea for reform so that a recall election would focus on whether the elected official should be recalled, not on which potential other candidate would be better in the role. If approved, Prop. 5 would make this a two-step process—if a recall vote is successful, a candidate would be removed and the post would be vacant until a separate election or appointment process for a new person to take the seat. DANIEL DREIFUSS North Monterey County Unified School District is asking voters to approve Measure L, a $40 million facilities bond. The board voted 4-1 to put it on the 2026 ballot, with one dissenting board member suggesting a presidential election year would be more advantageous.
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