Half-cent sales tax measure appears headed to Contra Costa voters this November

A new half-cent sales tax to raise an estimated $81 million a year, mostly for social services, moved closer to the November election ballot this week, but delays in passing a certain state Senate bill could still derail it.

On a 4-1 vote Tuesday, the supervisors voted to place the sales tax measure on the November ballot contingent on the passage before Aug. 24 of state Senate Bill 1349, drafted by Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, which would authorize Contra Costa County specifically to impose a transactions and use tax of up to a half-cent “for general or specific purposes to support countywide programs.”