Initial voting results Tuesday night showed opponents of the half-cent Fresno County transportation tax with the upper hand over supporters. (GV Wire Composite)
- Early results showed 53.53% of voters opposing the half-cent sales tax proposal Measure S.
- The Registrar of Voters reported 20.74% of votes counted early Tuesday night.
- Measure S divided Fresno County leaders after a vitriolic path to the ballot.
Share
|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Initial voting results Tuesday night showed opponents of the half-cent Fresno County transportation tax with the upper hand over supporters.
With 109,708 votes counted, the Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters reported 53.69% of voters opposing the citizen-led initiative. About 22% of eligible votes have been counted so far.
The city of Fresno’s sales tax proposal, Measure D, holds strong support with 57.74% of voters backing that initiative.
Measure S had largely divided supporters of the expiring Measure C. The effort to create a replacement for the half-cent sales tax measure began in 2022 when the first renewal attempt fell flat after a concerted effort by some nonprofit groups and by conservatives opposing new taxes kept the measure from reaching the two-thirds approval threshold.
The Fresno Council of Governments opted against a run in 2024 as behind the scenes, Measure C supporters worked with nonprofit coalition to create a tax measure they felt voters could support.
A framework was created and as the county’s mayors considered it, the Central Valley Community Foundation at the same time threatened to put forward a citizen-led initiative to compete with anything COG could create, and so representatives took to drafting language.
The involvement of nonprofits in the renewal effort caused a schism within COG and all-told, the Central Valley Community Foundation paid about a million dollars to get the measure on the ballot.
That included last-minute legal representation in a constitutional fight about the measure’s appearance in the 2026 election after supervisors tried to delay the vote until 2028.
Supporters and Opponents
As nonprofit community groups such as Fresno Building Healthy Communities and Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability and unions backed the sales tax, developers and county representatives opposed Measure S.
(Dislosure: GV Wire Publisher Darius Assemi donated to oppose Measure S.)
Opponents raised $25,000 from Richard Spencer of Spencer Enterprises, $10,000 from Supervisor Nathan Magsig’s campaign account, $5,000 from Bonadelle Homes, and $10,000 from Supervisor Buddy Mendes.
Fresno County Supervisors Board Chair Garry Bredefeld also donated $5,000 to the opposition effort.
RELATED TOPICS:
