Angus West just opened his new vinyl-spinning and coffee-serving business a few months ago in Downtown. West said when starting a new business, expenses can add up quickly, and, unfortunately, consumers often end up paying more.
“With coffee shops… the margins are on the low side. So every little penny does count at the end of the year,” West said. “Plus, since we’re a new business, it’s going to take us a few years to even start to make profits.”
This November, voters in the city of Sacramento could be asked to spend more. A ballot measure proposal would raise the sales tax by half a cent on every dollar spent in city limits. The increase would bring the combined sales tax in Sacramento to 9.25%.
West said he supports the idea and understands the need for infrastructure improvements, but believes people could feel frustrated if taxes go up and they see no tangible road improvements.
“If it is gonna help, I don’t mind it, but the tough part is when you see the increase, but you don’t see the change to what it was supposed to go to,” West said.
Those pushing for the increase say that if passed, it could generate $75 million in revenue for the city to dedicate to improving roads, transit, and pedestrian safety.
A community advocacy group focused on improving pedestrian and road safety, called SaferSacStreets, is trying to collect 30,000 signatures in the coming weeks to qualify the measure for the November ballot.
A pedestrian safety curb extension, also known as a bulb-out in Midtown on April 22, 2026. Supporters say infrastructure like this could be funded by a proposed city sales tax measureTony Rodriguez/CapRadio
Supporters say the funding would address long-standing road safety issues across the city. Sam Rice is part of the organization backing the ballot measure. He said the $75 million revenue estimate comes from analyzing data from Measure U, a similar city tax already in place.
“While Measure U is a full cent, this is at a half cent,” he said. “Using the data from the city’s website [we] determined a rough estimate of what we would generate from this measure [if passed].”
Rice said this proposal, unlike Measure U, is strictly intended to fund road repairs, improve safety, and expand transit service. He cited two nearby cities with sales tax rates of 9.25%, though most have a lower rate.
“This would actually bring us in line with West Sacramento and Davis, so it wouldn’t even put us in the top 100 of cities in California when it comes to sales tax,” he says.
Tax rates in the region
Sacramento (current): 8.75%
Sacramento (proposed): 9.25%
West Sacramento: 9.25%
Davis: 9.25%
Galt: 9.25%
Roseville: 7.75%
Citrus Heights: 7.75%
Elk Grove: 8.75%
Folsom: 7.75%
Rancho Cordova 8.75%
Woodland 8.0%
Rocklin 7.25%
Stockton 9.0%
Unincorporated Sacramento County: 7.75% (no additional city tax)
Rice said it would help the city pay for projects, given its limited funds. The city of Sacramento currently faces a $66 million budget deficit and has, for years, ranked among the most dangerous in the state for pedestrian safety.
Sacramento City Councilmember Phil Pluckebaum said the city has delayed this type of maintenance for years. He said a backlog of projects that are becoming harder and more expensive to address.
“We have deferred some of this maintenance now for so long,” he says. “It’s become pretty dire. We’ve all seen what our road conditions are like.”
He pointed to the condition of streets and bike routes as an example.
“If you’ve ridden your bike any distance throughout the city, you’ve probably lost a few fillings or cracked a few spokes, just dodging different obstructions as we work through our infrastructure debt,” he said.
Pluckebaum, while he said he supports the measure, added that there are real trade-offs when it comes to asking residents to pay more.
“The bigger concern is just overall affordability. We don’t want to create a scenario where sales taxes are yet another thing that is going to affect overall affordability in the region,” Pluckebaum said.
Pushback on city budgeting
Jon Coupal is president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, a group that advocates for lower taxes in California. He said the burden would fall hardest on working families.
“It is the middle class and the working class in California that are being gutted… and those are the people who are moving out of state,” Coupal said. “We pay heavily with a gas tax and all kinds of additional fees on transportation.”
He said other cities in the state have lower sales tax rates and have better-maintained roads and public transit. Coupal added Sacramento could fund street repairs, transit projects, and safety improvements if only money were spent more effectively.
“Instead of asking for more taxes, how about you prioritize spending the money that you already have? Coupal said. “There are cities the same size as Sacramento that have a tax burden … and much better municipal services.”
The 16th Street station in Sacramento on April 22, 2026. Voters may soon see a proposed sales tax measure to fund transportation projects.Tony Rodriguez/CapRadioMichael McDaneil lives in midtown and rides SacRT’s light rail and buses nearly every day. While he said he’s for affordability across the nation, he’s prepared to take on a sales tax increase.
“You gotta pay your bills. You gotta pay your rent. You gotta pay your car note and your insurance. You gotta pay for infrastructure. No ifs, ands, or buts about it,” McDaneil says.
McDaneil says many neighborhoods in North Sacramento and South Sacramento deal with bad potholes.
“If you don’t fix it, pretty soon the streets start to come up… those potholes… injure people, cars,” McDaneil said. “Then you got these old bridges that need to be done… that’s something you can’t skip over.”
Organizers said they’ve collected a few thousand signatures and have until mid-June to reach the roughly 30,000 needed to qualify the sales tax measure for the ballot.
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