Monterey City Council votes to scrap new tax initiatives on November ballot.

With the recent failure of Measure D, the City of Monterey’s potential 0.375-percent sales tax increase in the June 2 election, the Monterey City Council held a special meeting on Wednesday, June 24, to explore placing additional revenue-generating measures on the upcoming November ballot alongside the renewal of Measure S.

Measure S, a one percent sales tax approved by voters in the November 2018 election, is a continuation of Measure P, which was approved in the fall of 2014. The special tax is designated to fix streets, sidewalks, and storm drains, and to install ADA infrastructure improvements. The tax generates roughly $14 million annually, according to the meeting’s agenda report, and is slated to sunset on March 31, 2027. 

“Obviously, voters rejected Measure D, and so its staff’s belief that the November strategy should be simple and should protect our core funding and renewing Measure S is a foundational element to our fiscal future,” said Monterey City Manager Dante Hall at the meeting. He mentioned that city staff recommends that the governing body not move forward with any other tax initiatives on the fall ballot aside from the renewal of Measure S. 

The city hired the polling firm Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates, or FM3, to survey city residents in June about the renewal of Measure S, which would need a supermajority approval, or about 67 percent, and potential measures such as a parking tax and a vacancy tax.

The firm found that, among the roughly 400 residents surveyed, about 73 percent would vote to renew Measure S. Approximately 52 percent of those surveyed said they would vote for a parking tax, which would require a simple majority or 50 percent threshold for approval. The surveys also showed about 57 percent of respondents would support a vacant home tax. 

Following the presentation, Assistant City Manager Nat Rojanasathira stressed to the council that city staff does not recommend pursuing additional measures alongside the renewal of Measure S. After the governing body discussed the issue and heard from community members, they voted 5-0 to move forward only with the renewal of Measure S on the November 2026 ballot.