{"id":371464,"date":"2026-06-23T13:36:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T13:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/371464\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T13:36:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T13:36:12","slug":"spooked-by-oaklands-measure-e-flop-and-regional-sales-tax-cities-turn-to-business-tax-measures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/371464\/","title":{"rendered":"Spooked by Oakland’s Measure E Flop and Regional Sales Tax, Cities Turn to Business Tax Measures"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Vol. VI, No. 1,302<\/p>\n

\u2014Oakland\u2019s stunning rejection of Measure E in June is still sending shockwaves across Alameda County. The parcel tax defeat in a city that routinely approves tax measures has local officials worried that voters may be reaching their limit. <\/p>\n

Adding to those concerns is the expected appearance of a regional half-cent sales tax for transportation on the November ballot, which could further crowd the field and make it more difficult for local revenue measures to succeed.<\/p>\n

The result is a noticeable retreat from big ticket sales tax measures.<\/p>\n

Rather than asking homeowners for more money, several Alameda County cities are increasingly turning to businesses license fees and lower-tier utility taxes.<\/p>\n

Hayward has already voted to place a modernized business license tax on the November ballot, seeking to generate an estimated $14 million annually to help address its structural budget deficit. <\/p>\n

San Leandro is considering a similar overhaul based on gross receipts. Newark will discuss their business license tax measure on Thursday, and Emeryville is studying their own business tax changes. <\/p>\n

Union City officials are also discussing a renewal of Measure WW tonight, the utility users tax approved by voters in 2020.<\/p>\n

\u2014The emerging trend suggests local officials believe voters are more willing to tax businesses than themselves. <\/p>\n

Whether that assumption holds up in November remains an open question. <\/p>\n

The conversation at San Leandro City Hall is one place where businesses in that city are pushing back. The San Leandro City Council is slated to discuss next week placing a business license tax measure on the fall ballot.<\/p>\n

Conversely, in Oakland, voter this month approved Measure C giving small businesses that gross less than $1 million annual a one-year business tax holiday.<\/p>\n

With transportation agencies seeking billions through a regional sales tax and multiple cities eyeing their own revenue measures, the ballot could become a test of whether taxpayers are truly tapped out\u2014or simply more selective about who pays.<\/p>\n

Share East Bay Insiders Newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Give a gift subscription<\/a><\/p>\n

CITY NEWS: Oakland officials in line for pay raises amid city’s budget woes.<\/p>\n

In proposed biennial budget, Berkeley is confronting its structural deficit.<\/p>\n

COUNTY NEWS: Supes move to avert 92 layoffs at Alameda Health System.<\/p>\n

ELECTION 2026: History stacks against Hernandez as Wahab holds massive lead in CA14 runoff.<\/p>\n

When campaigns had a beat: Jean Quan\u2019s catchy campaign ditty.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udf99\ufe0fEAST BAY INSIDERS PODCAST<\/p>\n

\u2014EPISODE 135\u2014Few politicians have left a bigger mark on the East Bay than Don Perata. In a candid and often hilarious conversation, the former State Senate President Pro Tem, Assemblymember, Alameda County supervisor, and almost-Oakland mayor reflects on a career that helped shape California politics for more than four decades.<\/p>\n

\u2014Listen on Substack<\/a> or download episodes at Apple Podcasts<\/a>, Spotify<\/a>, or wherever you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Vol. VI, No. 1,302 \u2014Oakland\u2019s stunning rejection of Measure E in June is still sending shockwaves across Alameda…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":371465,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[143,145,144],"class_list":["post-371464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=371464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371464\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}