The City of Santa Rosa has contracted with an opinion research firm to poll Santa Rosa voters to gauge the feasibility of extending the City’s (3) quarter-cent sales tax measures. This survey will be conducted in English and Spanish and will be conducted by phone calls to landlines and cellphones, and through email, and text message notifications beginning this week. The firm will be contacting residents using voter record information.

Background on the City’s quarter cent sales tax measures:

• The City has three quarter-cent sales tax measures: two general tax measures and one public safety special tax.
• The general tax measures require a simple majority affirmative vote to pass, the special tax requires a two-thirds affirmative vote.
• The public safety tax specifically pays for enhancements in fire, police, and violence prevention services.
• One general tax was approved by the voters in 2010 (and extended in 2016) to provide funding for general city services cut as result of the Great Recession. The other tax was to help fund general city services as the City recovered from the October 2017 wildfires.
• Each quarter-cent tax generates approximately $10 million in sales tax annually.
• All three taxes expire at nearly the same time: two in Fiscal Year 2025, and one in Fiscal Year 2027.