Nine local ballot measures will appear on North County ballots this fall. Two are countywide, while the others apply to individual cities, school districts or road maintenance districts.
The following summaries outline each proposal and the positions of supporters and opponents.
Measure A (countywide)
Measure A, placed on the ballot by a majority of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, would amend the county charter to extend supervisors’ term limits and change county oversight, personnel and transparency rules.
The measure would increase supervisors’ term limits from two four-year terms to three, allowing them to serve 12 years instead of eight. Voters adopted the current limits in 2010 through Proposition B, a citizen initiative.
The measure would also:
- Create an independent budget analyst and an independent program auditor, although one person could hold both positions.
- Require board approval of certain senior appointees selected by the chief administrative officer and allow the board to remove them with or without cause.
- Allow the board to appoint the public defender directly, rather than leaving that appointment to the chief administrative officer.
- Create a seven-member ethics commission, with five members appointed by the board and two by county counsel.
- Require the county auditor and controller to post county spending data on the county’s website.
- Require an annual, publicly available audit of county spending.
- Prohibit county officers from influencing purchases or contracts for personal gain.
- Revise the charter’s noninterference clause to allow supervisors and their staff to direct county employees to provide assistance and participate in hiring and promotion decisions involving unclassified employees.
- Rename the Citizen Advisory Board the Community Advisory Board and establish new appointment criteria.
- Expand the nepotism ban to prohibit hiring a supervisor’s relatives within the fourth degree of consanguinity, including first cousins, within that supervisor’s department.
Supporters say the new positions and audits would increase transparency, while the authority to remove senior employees would improve accountability. Opponents argue those changes could have been accomplished without relaxing the term limits voters approved through Proposition B.
Measure B (countywide)
Measure B, placed on the ballot through a citizen initiative, would impose a permanent half-cent sales tax throughout San Diego County to fund sewage mitigation, public safety and health and social services.
Revenue would be allocated as follows:
- 22.5% to address Tijuana River sewage from Mexico.
- 17.5% for wildfire prevention and other public safety services.
- 60% for health care, child care and nutrition services.
A 12-member oversight committee, drawn from specified fields of expertise, would oversee spending. The tax could be repealed only through another ballot measure.
Supporters say the tax would replace funding lost through cuts to federal health care reimbursements while helping prevent wildfires and address sewage flowing from Mexico into the South Bay. Opponents argue elected officials should work within existing revenues rather than raise taxes and say the tax’s permanent nature would make it difficult to repeal.
Measure C (Solana Beach)
Measure C would increase Solana Beach’s transient occupancy tax, commonly known as a hotel tax, from 13% to 14%. It requires a simple majority to pass.
Revenue would support local projects and remain under city control, rather than being redirected by county, state or federal agencies. If the measure fails, the rate would remain at 13%.
Supporters say the measure provides a public, accountable way to address city needs. Opponents say the tax increase would hurt local businesses.
Measure K (Fallbrook Union Elementary School District)
Measure K, placed on the ballot by the Fallbrook Union Elementary School District board, would authorize $76 million in bonds to upgrade elementary and middle school facilities. It requires 55% voter approval to pass.
Projects would include replacing failing roofs, plumbing and electrical systems. Property taxes would repay the principal and interest, estimated at nearly $167 million, at an average annual rate of $30 per $100,000 of assessed property value.
Supporters say the expiration of Proposition X, approved in 2002, in 2030 would mean no net tax increase for property owners from Measure K. Opponents say the measure would impose a costly property tax on current and future owners into the 2060s.
Measure N (Vista Unified School District)
Measure N, placed on the ballot by the Vista Unified School District board, would authorize $543 million in bonds to modernize, repair and replace aging school buildings. It requires 55% voter approval to pass.
Property owners would pay an estimated annual tax of $58 per $100,000 of assessed property value for up to 40 years, depending on the interest rates at which the bonds are sold.
Supporters say the bonds are needed to continue upgrading and replacing aging campuses and would include strong accountability measures. Opponents point to Measure LL, a nearly $250 million, 30-year bond approved in 2018 that has not been paid off, in arguing that another bond is unnecessary.
Measure Q (Harris Annex, Rancho Santa Fe)
Measure Q would replace the existing annual parcel tax in Rancho Santa Fe’s Harris Annex with a new tax to fund road maintenance. It requires two-thirds voter approval to pass.
The annual tax would be $1,000 per developed parcel and $375 per undeveloped parcel, with annual inflation adjustments of up to 5%.
Supporters say the measure would provide long-term funding to maintain longstanding private roads that the county lacks sufficient funding to maintain. Opponents say it would impose a costly new tax rather than address wasteful government spending and could lead to contracts being awarded to political allies.
Measure R (Oceanside)
Measure R would amend Oceanside’s city charter to require compliance with state wage requirements for public works projects and allow the city to enter into labor agreements for those projects.
Supporters say state laws enacted since the city adopted its charter in 2010 conflict with the charter and put Oceanside at risk of losing state funding for public works projects. They argue the measure would preserve eligibility for that funding, support good wages for local workers, expand job training for young people and veterans, and allow the City Council to establish stronger safety and taxpayer protections.
Opponents say the city already complies with state law and remains eligible for state funding. They argue the charter’s restrictions on labor agreements preserve local control and say the measure could increase taxes, exclude local contractors from city projects and reduce competition while giving the council greater discretion.
Measure S (Oceanside)
Measure S would establish an additional half-cent sales tax in Oceanside for 10 years, increasing the city’s sales tax rate from 8.25% to 8.75%. Groceries, feminine hygiene products and prescription medications would remain exempt.
The tax is projected to generate about $20 million annually, or about $200 million over 10 years. According to the city, revenue would support street and sidewalk repairs, improvements to address traffic congestion and major infrastructure projects, including the concrete pier bridge rebuild, a new Fire Station 8, the RE project and a new police headquarters.
The measure would require an independent citizens’ oversight committee and public disclosure of spending, with revenue remaining in Oceanside. It would supplement Measure X, the existing half-cent sales tax approved in 2018 and extended in 2024, which funds public safety, road repairs, youth programs and homeless services.
Supporters say the additional tax would help address major unfunded infrastructure needs, including the pier bridge and beach replenishment. Supporters include the Oceanside Firefighters Association, Oceanside Police Officers’ Association, Oceanside Marine Safety Employees Association, Save Oceanside Sand and the San Diego County Taxpayers Association.
Opponents say another sales tax is unfair after voters agreed in 2024 to extend Measure X for 10 years. They also argue the revenue would not cover the costs of a new police headquarters, fire station and pier bridge rebuild. Opponents include senior advocate Steven Burell, former Assemblyman Rocky Chavez, retired teacher Jeordie Fellner, licensed clinical social worker Michele L. Cyr and alternate Manufactured Homes Fair Practices Commissioner Karie Lasko.
Measure T (Pala Mesa)
Measure T would establish a special parcel tax in the Pala Mesa 13A Permanent Road Division in eastern Fallbrook to fund road maintenance. It requires two-thirds voter approval to pass.
The annual tax would be up to $1,786 per developed parcel and $893 per undeveloped parcel, with annual inflation adjustments of up to 5%. Revenue would support maintenance of the division’s 5.77-mile road network, including Sumac, Wilt and Sage roads.
According to the county, the division operated as a county service area from 1968 to 2000. Existing property tax revenue is no longer sufficient to address road repair needs, estimated at $6.8 million.
If the measure fails, the division would be dissolved, ending the county’s involvement in road maintenance and returning full responsibility to property owners.
The San Diego Democratic Party supports the measure. Reform California and the Republican Party of San Diego County oppose it.
Cameron Adams, Samantha Nelson and Jim Trageser contributed to this report.
