Local Elections:
Major Tax and Spending Issues to Be Decided at Tuesday's Low-Turnout Election

Low voter turnout may result in a handful of voters determining the outcome of major tax and spending issues in the June 3 election. Voter turnout is expected to be dismal because of the few contested primary election races.

However, there are $2.3 billion in school bonds, 8 sales tax proposals, 23 parcel tax measures, and 6 utility tax decisions on ballots throughout California.

Among California's local utility tax proposals, one in a Kern County city poses the largest utility tax hike – a 15 percent increase. While the local ballot does not specifically mention any rate increase, dollar amount or any number at all, Measure E, if passed, will provide the city of McFarland funding for "general city services." (Cal-Tax: To obtain the actual percentage of this local utility tax proposal, Cal-Tax had to call the Kern County Registrar of Voters.)

With 32 proposals, local school bonds – primarily aimed at improving school facilities – proved to be the most popular local ballot measure throughout the state. The actual dollar amount of the proposed school bonds differs by county, ranging from a high of $378 million (Palo Alto Unified School District in Santa Clara County) to a low of $1.8 million (Leggett Valley Unified School District in Mendocino County).

Also on the June ballot are a number of parcel taxes, including proposed taxes to fund the maintenance of a city cemetery (Riverside County), employee salaries (City of San Francisco), local libraries (City of Orinda), and park and recreational facilities (Marin and Monterey counties).

There are also three hotel-tax proposals that, if passed, could increase room taxes to as much as 12 percent (Half Moon Bay, San Mateo County).

Several cities have proposed a utility "modernization" tax. A proposal in Oakland (Measure J) would extend a 7.5 percent utility users' tax to telecommunications that take place through "wire, cable, fiber-optic, light wave, laser, microwave, broadband, and computer processing applications." The tax also would charge users for cell phone services (including text messages), satellite services, and mobile radio. Exclusions for Measure J include digital downloads, such as ring-tones, music, books, and other similar digital property.

Voters in the following counties will not see any local ballot measures on June 3: Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Del Norte, Inyo, Kings, Lassen, Mariposa, Merced, Modoc, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Tehama, Trinity and Tuolumne.

The following table contains a rundown of tax and fiscal measures on local ballots:

TAX	COUNTY	JURISDICTION	PROPOSAL
Bond, Fire	Santa Cruz	Ben Lomond Fire Protection District	Measure S: $10 million bond to improve fire dept response time and improve training of volunteer firefighters.
Bond, Hospital	San Bernardino	Bear Valley Community Healthcare District	Measure Q: $11.5 million bond to improve and maintain local healthcare services. No funds are to be used for salaries of district employees or administration.
Bond, Parks	Kern	Buttonwillow Recreation and Park District	Measure F: $4.9 million bond to improve park and recreational facilities.
Bond, School	Alameda	Hayward Unified School District	Measure I: $205 million bond to improve school facilities.
Bond, School	Contra Costa	Antioch Unified School District	Measure C: $61 million bond to improve school facilities.
Bond, School	El Dorado	Lake Tahoe Unified School District	Measure A: $87 million bond to improve school facilities. Excludes administrative salaries.
Bond, School	El Dorado	El Dorado Union High School District	Measure Q: $66.3 million bond to improve school facilities.
Bond, School	Fresno	Central Unified School District	Measure E: $152 million bond to improve and build new schools.
Bond, School	Fresno	Kerman Unified School District	Measure K: $24.9 million bond to improve school facilities.
Bond, School	Madera	West Hills Community College District	Measure Q: $11.8 million bond to improve school facilities.
Bond, School	Glenn	Willows Unified School District	Measure L: $20.7 million bond to improve school facilities.
Bond, School	Humboldt	McKinleyville Union School District	Measure C: $14 million bond to improve school facilities.
Bond, School	Imperial	McCabe Elementary School District	Measure B: $7 million bond to improve school facilities.
Bond, School	Kern	Wasco Union High School District	Measure C: $33.5 million bond to improve school facilities.
Bond, School	Kern	Kernville Union School District	Measure D: $6 million in bonds to improve school facilities. Excludes administrative salaries.
Bond, School	Los Angeles	Hawthorne Elementary School District	Measure H: $20 million bond to improve school facilities. Excludes administrative salaries and overhead expenditures of the district.
Bond, School	Los Angeles	Los Nietos Elementary School District	Measure M: $31.1 million bond to improve school facilities. Excludes administrative salaries and overhead expenditures of the district.
Bond, School	Marin	Ross School District	Measure A: $6.75 million bond to improve school facilities.
Bond, School	Mendocino	Fort Bragg Unified School District	Measure C: $16 million bond to improve school facilities.
Bond, School	Mendocino	Leggett Valley Unified School District	Measure D: $1.8 million bond to improve school facilities.
Bond, School	Monterey	Salinas City Elementary School District	Measure T: $80 million bond to improve school facilities.
Bond, School	San Benito/ Monterey	Aromas-San Juan Unified School District	Measure V: $18.8 million bond to improve school facilities.
Bond, School	Orange	Santa Ana Unified School District	Measure G: $200 million bond to improve school facilities.
Bond, School	Placer/Nevada	Tahoe-Truckee Unified School District	Measure L: $93.5 million bond to improve school facilities.
Bond, School	Riverside	Val Verde Unified School District	Measure J: $43.4 million bond to improve school facilities.
Bond, School	San Bernardino	Needles Unified School District	Measure N: $10.9 million bond to improve school facilities.
Bond, School	San Diego	Oceanside Unified School District	Proposition H: $195 million bond to improve school facilities
Bond, School	San Joaquin	Oak View Union School District	Measure R: $3.7 million bond to improve school facilities.
Bond, School	Santa Barbara	Santa Barbara Community College District	Measure V: $77.2 million bond to improve college facilities.
Bond, School	Santa Clara	Palo Alto Unified School District	Measure A: $378 million bond to improve school facilities.
Bond, School	Santa Clara	Fremont Union High School District	Measure B: $198 million bond to improve school facilities.
Bond, School	Santa Clara	Alum Rock Union Elementary School District	Measure G: $179 million bond to improve school facilities.
Bond, School	Santa Cruz	Scotts Valley Unified School District	Measure G: $55 million bond to improve school facilities.
Bond, School	Sutter	Sutter Union High School	Measure T: $12.6 million bond to improve school facilities.
Bond, School	Ventura	Mesa Union Elementary School District	Measure A: $4 million bond to improve school facilities.
Hotel/Room	San Diego	City of Encinitas	Proposition F: Increases occupancy tax to 8%.
Hotel/Room	San Diego	City of Encinitas	Proposition G: Requires guests who occupy short-term rental unities for 30 days or less to pay a 2% rental charge. Occupancy tax will fund beach sand replenishment and stabilization projects.
Hotel/Room	San Mateo	City of Half Moon Bay	Measure Q: Increases hotel tax from 10 percent to 12 percent of the room rate.
Miscellaneous	Mendocino	County of Mendocino	Measure B: Proposal to limit medicinal marijuana farming.
Miscellaneous	Riverside	Miscellaneous	Measure F: Incorporation - Proposed City of Menifee Valley
Miscellaneous	San Francisco	City of San Francisco	Proposition B: Adjusts new employee pension and benefit formulas.
Miscellaneous	San Francisco	City of San Francisco	Proposition C: Suspends the benefits of city employees who are convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude.
Parcel	Alameda	Alameda Unified School District	Measure H: Establishes a temporary, 4-year tax of $120 per residential parcel and 15 cents per square foot of commercial/industrial parcels. Includes exemptions for seniors.
Parcel	Alameda	City of Union	Measure K: Increases parcel tax. For single-family homes, maximum tax would be between $155.26 to 260.59. Parcel tax based on square footage.
Parcel	Contra Costa	San Ramon Valley Unified School District	Measure D: $166 per parcel tax with annual inflation adjustment of $8 for seven years. Includes exemption for seniors.
Parcel