On July 3rd, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted to add a measure on the November 6th ballot that would extend the current 1/8 of one cent sales tax originally approved in 2013 for “vital local priorities such as law enforcement and public safety, trauma and emergency room services, health coverage for low-income children, economic development and job creation, housing for the homeless, and programs to help students stay in school.”

The Board placed the measure on the ballot to extend the timeframe beyond its current sunset date of March 2023. Because this is an existing tax and the action is to simply extend, this is not a tax increase.

The revenues from the existing sales tax have been used to provide supportive services to the homeless.  As we continue to build new Permanent Supportive Housing developments– like the Villas at the Park, which began construction earlier this year– we need to ensure that funding continues to be available for services tied to housing.  Ensuring that these revenues continue is a high priority.

Because this is a general tax and not a special tax, it will only require a 50% plus one vote of the public.  Nevertheless, there will be a need to galvanize the troops to make sure that the measure gets the needed votes in November!  Again, more to come!