90 California Local Tax Hikes Hidden on the June 2026 Ballot — Is One on Yours?

California politicians have quietly packed the June 2 Primary ballot with 90 local tax measures totaling over $738 million in new taxes — many buried under misleading titles designed to prevent voters from knowing what they’re actually approving.

Every election cycle, California politicians play the same game. They wait for a low-turnout primary, load the ballot with revenue measures, dress them up in the language of children, hospitals, and public safety — and count on voters to say yes before they read the fine print.

This June 2, 2026, they’ve outdone themselves. Reform California Chairman and State Assemblymember Carl DeMaio has confirmed that 90 local tax measures are on the June Primary ballot statewide. The California Taxpayers Association (CalTax), after reviewing election materials from all 58 counties, independently counted at least 80 as of late March — with additional measures qualifying since then. Together, these proposals seek over $738.5 million in direct new taxes and would saddle California property owners with an additional $2.6 billion in bond debt, to be repaid with interest over decades.

The Playbook: How Politicians Hide a Tax Hike in Plain Sight

In California, local governments are permitted to write the ballot question language for their own tax measures. That means the same officials who want to raise your taxes also control how the question is worded when it appears on your ballot.

The result is a masterclass in misdirection. Tax hikes are rebranded as “community investments.” Parcel taxes are described as tools to “attract and retain highly qualified teachers.” A hotel tax in Los Angeles lists street repairs, 911 response, fire protection, and parks in its ballot question — with no legal requirement that any of those services actually receive the funds.

The City of Lomita named its sales tax measure the “Local Control and City Services Measure.” Not the “Lomita Sales Tax Increase.” The name alone tells you everything about who this language is designed to serve.

“This isn’t transparency — it’s deception. Politicians are hiding tax hikes behind vague wording so voters don’t realize what they’re approving.” — Carl DeMaio

One Court Already Agreed

The deception isn’t just political opinion — at least one California judge has put it in writing.

On March 26, 2026, San Diego Superior Court Judge Blaine Bowman ordered the ballot title for San Diego Measure A rewritten, ruling that the original language was misleading. The measure imposes an $8,000-per-year tax on residential properties deemed “vacant” for more than 182 days — rising to $10,000 in subsequent years. The court found the original title did not accurately represent what the measure targets.

The California Apartment Association has further warned that the measure “carries the same constitutional and statutory defects” that led a trial court to strike down a similar tax in San Francisco — ruling it an unconstitutional taking that conflicts with the Ellis Act, the state law protecting property owners’ right to exit the rental housing market.

If a measure requires a court order just to use honest language, voters deserve to ask: what else is being hidden?

The Numbers No One Is Advertising

According to CalTax’s independent analysis, the measures break down as:

• 29 parcel taxes — charged annually to every property owner
• 22 school bond measures — adding decades of property tax obligations
• 19 sales or transaction taxes — paid by every consumer at the register
• 4 hotel/transient occupancy taxes
• 3 business taxes — costs typically passed to customers and employees

The steepest proposals include a $3,174 annual parcel tax per property in Piedmont Unified School District with no sunset date, a $990 base annual parcel tax in Palos Verdes Estates, and Los Angeles County’s “Essential Services Restoration Act” — a 0.5% general sales tax projected to generate approximately $1 billion per year for five years.

Every Confirmed Tax Measure on the June 2, 2026 Ballot

Compiled from Ballotpedia, CalTax, and official LA County election documents. For the full list in your county: reformcalifornia.org/voter-guides/california

ALAMEDA COUNTY

• Measure B — Castro Valley Unified School District — School Bond — $212 million ($52.50 per $100,000 assessed value)
• Measure G — Hayward Unified School District — Parcel Tax — $98/year
• Measure C — Oakland — Business Tax — 1-year tax exemption for qualifying small and new businesses
• Measure E — Oakland — Parcel Tax — $192/year (public safety programs)
• Measure A — Peralta Community College District — Parcel Tax — $48/parcel/year for 9 years
• Measure F — Piedmont Unified School District — Parcel Tax — $3,174/parcel/year (NO end date — only ends if voters repeal it)

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY

• Measure G — Contra Costa Community College District — District Bond — $920 million (~$10 per $100,000 assessed value)
• Measure B — Contra Costa County — Sales Tax — 0.625% for 5 years
• Measure C — El Cerrito — Parcel Tax — Up to $0.17/sq ft of improvements ($100/vacant parcel)
• Measure H — Lafayette School District — Parcel Tax — $585/year for 9 years
• Measure I — Moraga School District — Parcel Tax — $295/year for 7 years
• Measure J — Oakley Union Elementary School District — School Bond — $59 million (~$28 per $100,000 assessed value)
• Measure K — Oakley Union Elementary School District — School Bond — $64 million (~$30 per $100,000 assessed value)
• Measure L — Walnut Creek School District — Parcel Tax — $98/year for 9 years

EL DORADO COUNTY

• Measure G — South Lake Tahoe Community Facilities District — District Tax Renewal — Recreation facilities maintenance
• Measure B — County Service Area 10, Zone F — Property Tax Renewal — South Lake Tahoe Library
• Measure C — County Service Area 10, Zone G — Property Tax Renewal — Georgetown Library
• Measure E — Fallen Leaf Lake Community Services District — District Tax Renewal — Fire protection & ambulance

FRESNO COUNTY

• Kingsburg — Sales Tax Renewal — Renewal of existing $0.01 sales tax

KINGS COUNTY

• Measure T — Hanford — Hotel/Transient Occupancy Tax — Increase from 8% to 12%

LAKE COUNTY

• Measure B — Lakeport Unified School District — School Bond — $24.5 million ($53 per $100,000 assessed value)
• Measure A — Mendocino-Lake Community College District — School Bond — $6.1 million ($24 per $100,000 assessed value)

LASSEN COUNTY

• Measure X — Richmond Elementary School District — School Bond — $1.4 million

LOS ANGELES COUNTY

• Measure ER — Los Angeles County — General Sales Tax — 0.5% for 5 years (~$1 billion/year) — titled “Essential Services Restoration Act”
• Measure BB — Bell — Sales Tax — +1 cent sales and use tax
• Measure BG — Bell Gardens — Sales Tax — Increase from 0.75% to 1.0% — titled “Keep Bell Gardens Sales Tax Revenues Local Measure”
• Measure A — Bonita Unified School District — School Bond — $256 million
• Measure PC — Commerce — Sales Tax — +0.25%
• Measure CPT — Compton Unified School District — School Bond — $360 million ($60 per $100,000 assessed value)
• Measure CC — Covina — Sales Tax — +0.25%
• Gardena — Sales Tax — ¼ cent (~$3.9 million/year) — titled “City of Gardena Services Measure”
• Lawndale Elementary School District — School Bond — $42 million (~$30 per $100,000 assessed value)
• Measure LW — Lomita — Sales Tax — ¼ cent — titled “Local Control and City Services Measure”
• Measure TT — Los Angeles (City) — Hotel/Transient Occupancy Tax — General fund; ballot language lists popular services with no legal guarantee funds go there
• San Marino — Transaction and Use Tax — 1% (~$1.651 million/year)

MARIN COUNTY

• Measure I — Sausalito Marin City School District — School Bond
• Measure B — Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District — Sales Tax Extension — Extend existing 0.25% for 30 years (expires 2029)

MONTEREY COUNTY

• Measure D — Monterey (City) — Sales Tax — 0.375% for 9 years — titled “to fund emergency response programs and city services”

SAN DIEGO COUNTY

• Measure A — San Diego (City) — Vacant Homes Tax — $8,000/year starting 2027, rising to $10,000/year; additional surcharges on corporate-owned properties — ⚠️ Original ballot title ruled MISLEADING by San Diego Superior Court, March 26, 2026 — ordered rewritten

SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY

• Measure D — San Francisco — Business Tax — Tax on businesses based on executive-to-median-employee pay gap
• General Obligation Bond — San Francisco — $535 million — repaid via property taxes over decades
• Gross Receipts Tax Increase — San Francisco — Increase on financial institutions to fund a public bank

SANTA CLARA COUNTY

• Measure A — San Jose (City) — Hotel/Transient Occupancy Tax — Increase from 4% to 6% (~$10 million/year) — titled “Transient Occupancy Tax Increase Measure”
• Measure B — Palo Alto Unified School District — Parcel Tax Renewal — $800/parcel/year for 4 years (~$14.6 million/year)
• Measure C — Franklin-McKinley School District — School Bond — $142 million (~$30 per $100,000 assessed value)
• Measure D — Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority — Parcel Tax — $0.02/sq ft of building area (~$17 million/year)

⚠️ ADDITIONAL MEASURES: Sacramento, Orange, Riverside, Ventura, San Bernardino, and other counties contain additional measures bringing the statewide total to 90. Check your county at: reformcalifornia.org/voter-guides/california

TOTALS IF ALL PASS:

• Direct new taxes: $738.5 million+
• Bond debt: $2.6 billion+ (repaid with interest via property taxes over decades)

What Supporters Will Tell You

Proponents argue that California’s local governments are genuinely underfunded after years of state budget instability, and that targeted local measures let communities fund services voters actually want. School districts cite real cost pressures — rising salaries, aging facilities, and growing technology needs. Cities like Bell Gardens point to a specific fiscal crisis: the state Attorney General’s new cardroom regulations, advanced by tribal casino interests, could strip up to 30% of municipal revenues, directly threatening police and parks budgets.

These are real concerns. Honest governance requires acknowledging them.

Why the Method Matters as Much as the Money

But legitimate need and deceptive tactics are two entirely separate issues — and California has a chronic problem with the second one.

If a tax is truly necessary and beneficial, it should be able to win on honest language. The moment officials hide dollar figures mid-paragraph, brand measures after community values instead of their actual content, and engineer ballot questions to produce “yes” votes rather than informed choices, they’ve answered the core question: they don’t trust voters with the truth.

“If the tax is sound policy, it doesn’t need a disguise. The moment a politician hides the price tag, they’ve told you everything you need to know about whether they trust voters with the truth.”

Reform California’s Ballot Title Reform campaign aims to fix this structurally — removing politicians from the title-writing process entirely and replacing political spin with independently drafted, neutral language that voters can actually rely on.

Key Takeaway

90 local tax measures are on California’s June 2, 2026 Primary ballot, seeking over $738 million in direct new taxes and $2.6 billion in bond debt. Many carry ballot titles written by the very politicians who want the money, crafted to confuse rather than inform. One has already been rewritten by court order. Voters have the right to know what they’re being asked to approve. That process starts now — before June 2.

Don’t Let Them Count on Your Confusion

California’s June Primary is a low-turnout election. That is not an accident. It is the strategy. Quiet ballots are how local tax hikes get passed — with minimal scrutiny, while most taxpayers aren’t watching.

Look up your county’s sample ballot before June 2. Read every measure past the title and straight to what you’ll actually pay. Talk to your neighbors. Share this article. Show up informed.

The officials counting on your confusion are banking on your silence. Don’t give it to them.

Find Reform California’s complete statewide voter guide at reformcalifornia.org/voter-guides/california. Stay informed. Stay engaged. California’s taxpayers deserve the truth.