Fresno Building Healthy Communities and other parks boosters are celebrating clearance of the final legal hurdle for the Measure P sales tax passed in 2018.
Breaking news: CA Supreme Court denies review of Measure P case. #Parsk4All is the law of the (@CityofFresno) land!! Let’s get to work & create more & better parks, arts, & trails!
— Fresno BHC (@FresnoBHC) March 30, 2021
According to the state Supreme Court website, the court decided against hearing a challenge to the tax mounted by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association on Tuesday.
Measure P raises the city’s sale tax by 3/8 cents from 7.975% on July 1 and is projected to generate about $34 million annually for 30 years for parks and cultural arts. It received 52.17% support.
Opponents to the measure argued that it was too long, too big of an increase or should have included new funding for public safety. Then-Fresno Mayor Lee Brand failed to win support for a proposal that would have increased the sales tax by a half-cent, with revenues split between parks and public safety.
When it was put on the ballot, Measure P was said to need two-thirds support for adoption.
But California courts have since ruled that tax proposals put on the ballot via voter signature efforts need 50%-plus one support for passage.
In January, with the backing of Mayor Jerry Dyer, the Fresno City Council voted 5-2 to recognize the passage of Measure P.
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