Lafayette Passes Tax Measure, Elects City Council Members
LAFAYETTE, CA — Voters Tuesday in Lafayette appeared to approve Measure H, a half-cent sales tax increase expected to generate around $2.4 million a year for the city.
More than 65 percent of voters were in favor of the ballot measure, while nearly 35 percent were against it. According to the unofficial election night tally from the Contra Costa County Registrar of Voters Office, the measure received 6,996 yes votes and 3,748 no votes.
The latest tally was published at 1:05 a.m. Wednesday and represents 57.61 percent —11,140 —of 19,337 ballots cast by Lafayette voters. The other 42.29 percent of votes were still being counted.
The measure required a simple majority vote to pass, meaning it needed approval by at least 50 percent of voters.
If the election night pattern continues, the city has itself a tax increase good for the next seven years. The measure takes Lafayette's sales tax rate from 8.75 percent to 9.25 percent —in line with the tax rate in Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek but lower than Orinda, Moraga and Concord, where the rate is 9.75 percent.
City officials said the proceeds will be placed in the general fund and used to maintain city services, including public streets, storm drains, pothole repairs, wildfire preparedness, the number of police officers, traffic safety, senior and youth programs, and other general city services.
The Lafayette City Council voted in July to place the issue on the November ballot . The city was poised to face a $2 million annual deficit and blamed the shortfall on inflation and unfunded state mandates.
If the measure did not pass, the City Council would have to make "difficult decisions about which programs and services to reduce or eliminate."
Lafayette City Council Race
Incumbents led a tight race among four candidates vying for three seats on the Lafayette City Council.
As of 1:05 a.m. Wednesday, Council member John McCormick led the pack with 6,983 votes (29.64 percent), Council member Gina Dawson was in second place with 6,510 votes (27.63 percent), Council member Carl Anduri was in third place with 6,486 votes (27.53 percent), and newcomer Lauren McCabe Herpich trailed with 3547 votes (15.06 percent).
It was a close race among two candidates vying for one short-term seat to complete the term of retired broker Jim Cervantes had 4,653 votes (53.42 percent) while financial analyst Mario DiPrisco had 4,051 votes (46.51 percent).
The tallies represented 11,172 of 19,337 total Lafayette ballots. Of the 11,172 counted, 9,714 were vote-by-mail ballots and 1,458 were cast in person on Election Day.
See the latest results below.
