Opposition continued to rise for both Redding’s Measure A tax proposal and a political redistricting question, according to the newest batch of vote results that were released late Friday by the Shasta County Elections Office.
The results remain preliminary, as election results have until Dec. 12 to be certified, according to the California Secretary of State’s voter page online.
Measure A in Shasta County
The latest unofficial voting results did little to change what appears to be a resounding defeat of Measure A.
The city of Redding sales tax Measure A proposal was still losing, with 64.39% no votes and 35.61% yes votes, according to a new set of preliminary results that was released at 4:29 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 7.
Previously, the no vote count on the sales tax question stood at 63.87% while yes votes were 36.13%, according to the county elections department figures released in the early-morning hours of Nov. 5.
The Measure A proposal sought to raise the sales tax in the city by 1%, to 8.25% from 7.25%.
City officials predicted the proposed sales tax would bring in an estimated $30 million in revenue that would be spent adding police officers; upgrading Redding’s airport, roads and parks; supporting the Redding Civic Auditorium and Redding Rodeo Grounds, among other improvements.
In a first for the community, the measure was driven by a group of residents who were looking to raise the revenue to improve a range of services.
However, the measure received major blowback over large donations it received during the campaign from groups that stood to benefit if the increase was approved.
Proposition 50 in Shasta County
Opposition also remained heavy in Shasta County for Proposition 50 in the most recent batch of preliminary vote results released Friday, Nov. 7.The updated results showed the redistricting question still losing, with the percentage of no votes rising to 69.67%.
That’s slightly more than the voter count reported in Shasta County in the early-morning hours of Nov. 5, when the redistricting question was losing by a 69.43% vote, according to the county’s elections website.
Statewide, however, the redistricting question was heading to approval with 64.1% yes votes and 35.9% no votes, according to the latest unofficial vote count released Friday evening.
Shasta County Registrar of Voters Clint Curtis said Friday night that the next voting data release will happen on Wednesday, Nov. 12 in what will likely be the final tally.
“They are cooking,” Curtis said of county elections department workers who are processing ballots and can be viewed in real time on the agency’s website.
Michele Chandler covers dining, food, public safety and whatever else comes up for the Redding Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. Accepts story tips at 530-338-7753 and at [email protected]. Please support our entire newsroom’s commitment to public service journalism by subscribing today.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Votes against Redding Measure A sales tax rise in latest count
