In 2018 Carpinteria voters adopted Measure X, which slightly increased our sales tax. By funding programs that greatly benefit our residents, it’s given our community new life.
Carpinteria’s small increase is more than 50 percent funded by non-resident shoppers and tourists. It raises between $3 million and $4 million per year for local needs. Our community library has a robust budget now; we’ve taken on the backlog of road maintenance, given law enforcement the boost it needs, and enhanced parks and recreation for our kids.
Goleta’s Measure B on this November’s ballot would raise even more revenue — more than $10.5 million per year via a penny-per-dollar sales tax increase — and still have a sales tax the same as or lower than all local cities. Like Carpinteria, a huge chunk of that money would come from outside, courtesy of non-resident shoppers.
Measure B funds would fund priorities Goleta’s identified in a recent survey: repairing roads; 9-1-1 response and crime prevention; addressing fire risks from homeless encampments; maintaining parks and public spaces; supporting childcare and local jobs; building bicycle and pedestrian projects; implementing the city’s Energy and Climate Plan; and protecting creeks, watersheds, and coastal waters.
I urge Goleta voters to benefit from Carpinteria’s positive experience and vote for Measure B this fall.
Gail Marshall is a former Santa Barbara County Supervisor