Measure H – Continue Sales Tax for Fire, Mental Health, and Police

Fire and mental health services are underfunded in Santa Rosa and everywhere across the state. If this measure fails, they’d take a devastating hit.

Admittedly, sales taxes are a regressive and stopgap method of raising funds, and we would prefer for public safety services to be fully funded. However, our communities have long suffered from unfair tax rules that favor millionaires, billionaires, and big corporations. That’s why we support fair, equitable taxes — for budgets that will fully and reliably ensure our children will inherit quality public education and public services, no matter what they look like or where they come from. This would allow communities to raise the funds they need to keep us safe and direct funds towards true public safety and community needs. In the meantime, we need to ensure that our communities have access to the resources they need, and this sales tax is a necessary step to do that.