Measure ER, a half-percentage point sales tax raise for healthcare services in L.A. County was trailing, with about 53.3% of votes against, and 46.7% in favor, according to returns released by 11 p.m. Tuesday, June 2.
The vote tally for the measure in the June 2 primary includes vote-by-mail ballots returned before Election Day and ballots case at Vote Centers also before Election Day, according to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s Office.
The canvassing of votes will continue Wednesday and almost every day thereafter until June 26, the Registrar-Recorder’s Office reported.
The measure, put on the ballot by the Board of Supervisors, asks voters to support the sales tax increase to help stave off the effects of federal cuts affecting county healthcare facilities, including the risk of some clinics and even hospitals closing.
• Also see: June 2 Primary Election Results
If the result reverse, which is unlikely, it would raise $1 billion annually to pay for clinics, workers and nonprofit entities that provide healthcare services administered by LA County. Without the tax dollars, county officials predict there will be layoffs and thousands of people without access to Medi-Cal services.
The measure is led by Second District L.A. County Supervisor Holly Mitchell and is supported by a coalition of clinics, labor unions and physician groups.
Jim Mangia, president and CEO of St. John’s Community Health, leads a group of clinics and healthcare workers called the Restore Healthcare for Angelenos coalition at a rally in Venice for a sales tax measure that would raise backfill dollars in LA County cut by H.R. 1. (image courtesy of Restore Healthcare for Angelenos)
The general sales tax increase measure would put money into the county’s general fund for five years and the tax sunsets in October 2031.
The Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to place the measure on the ballot, with an allocation plan that will move revenue primarily to nonprofit health care providers and county health departments and hospitals, but also to Planned Parenthood and city health care departments in Pasadena and Long Beach.
The measure needs 50% of the vote plus one for approval.
Also, besides a majority of votes, the measure needs a law that would allow the county to exceed a 2% tax rate. The county tax rate is 7.25%. So while there could be multiple sales taxes, also referred to as district taxes, within a county – issued by a county, city or local district, or a combination of these entities – those tax rates, taken together, can’t add up to more than 2%.
Any additional tax that would cause a county to exceed this 2% cap would require permission from the state.
On Monday, June 1, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1768 into law. It would grant that permission to L.A. County to implement Measure ER should voters approve it.