From cannabis taxes and building height limits to trash pick up, here’s everything voters need to know about the ballot measures in San Diego County.
Measure A — Cannabis business tax
What does it do?
Measure A would allow the San Diego County Board of Supervisors to impose a tax on cannabis businesses operating in the unincorporated area.
It covers both medical and recreational operations. Voters will be asked if gross receipts (or the total amounts received from all sources without subtracting any costs or expenses) should be taxed at a maximum of 6% for retail, 3% for distribution, 2% for testing, 3% for cultivation or $10 per canopy square foot and 4% for other businesses.
Measure A requires a simple majority vote and if approved, gives the board of supervisors the authority to set the initial tax rate. County officials estimate the business tax could bring in $2.9 million to $5.6 million annually and the revenue could be used for any general government purpose like parks, fire safety, roads and health. The board of supervisors voted earlier this year to send Measure A to voters.
Why is it on the ballot?
In June, San Diego County Supervisors approved an ordinance to tax cannabis businesses, subject to voter approval. The actions placed Measure A on the November ballot.
“We’re at another step in our progress towards establishing the safe, regulated and legal cannabis market in the unincorporated areas and I think this is a worthy endeavor,” said San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher during the June 15th board meeting.
Supervisor Jim Desmond inquired why the measure had to go to voters countywide and not just in the unincorporated county, where the cannabis business tax would apply. County staff responded it is California law and cannot be done otherwise.
Supporters argue cities including San Diego, La Mesa, Lemon Grove, Vista and Oceanside have already regulated cannabis businesses. The added revenues from Measure A would cover new costs associated with regulation and help to close illegal cannabis operations.
What are the arguments for and against?
Supporters argue Measure A is a bipartisan solution to advance a safe, regulated, and legal adult cannabis industry in San Diego County, and keeps tax revenues local. Proponents point out it does not tax cannabis users, but instead the businesses. The tax will not apply to cannabis operations in incorporated cities and therefore will not be a double tax. Supporters also said the tax is crucial to shutting down illegal cannabis operations that have plagued parts of the county.
Supporters
- Nathan Fletcher, Chair, Board of Supervisors, District 4
- Nora Vargas, Vice-Chair, Board of Supervisors, District 1
- Terra Lawson-Remer, Member of the Board of Supervisors, District 3
Opponents said the cannabis business tax is unfair because it only applies to operations in unincorporated areas in the county, yet all county voters will have the measure on their ballot. The official rebuttal also questions whether revenues would actually go to services in the areas paying the tax and is skeptical about promises of “social equity.”
Opponents
- Haney Hong, President, San Diego Taxpayers Association
- Dianne Jacob, former San Diego County Supervisor
- Barry Jantz, Retired Healthcare Administrator and Former La Mesa Councilmember
- Robert F. Kevane, Certified Public Accountant
- The Republican Party of San Diego County
Measure B — Waste management systems (“The People’s Ordinance”)
What does it do?
It would let the city recover pickup costs from the roughly 53% of San Diegans who have been exempt from trash pickup fees.
The ballot measure would also guarantee free trash bins for all, which the city does not currently provide.
If Measure B passes, it would be at least two years before any fees are charged to single-family homeowners. The city would have to do a cost-of-service study first.
The city’s independent budget analyst estimates customers would pay $23 to $29 per month, per customer.
Why is it on the ballot?
Single-family homeowners in the city of San Diego haven’t paid additional fees for trash pickup in over 100 years thanks to a law called the People’s Ordinance.
Homeowners service is paid out of the city’s general fund, but multi-family complexes and businesses have to hire private waste haulers.
The San Diego City Council voted 7-2 in July to put a reform of the ordinance on the November ballot.
City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera spearheaded the campaign to change the law and said the reform would free up millions of dollars for other city priorities like infrastructure repairs, parks and libraries. He also said the current ordinance is unfair, regressive and harmful to the city’s waste reduction goals.
What are the arguments for and against?
The Climate Action Campaign supports Measure B. Mikey Knab, the group’s co-director of policy, said San Diego needs a greener future of waste management.
“In a place where you never see your bill for trash removal, you don’t care whether you put recyclable things into your landfill bins or compostable things into your landfill bin,” Knab said. “Therefore the landfill bins from single-family homes often have recyclable items in them and compostable items in them that are filling up the landfill way more quickly than it needs to be.”
The current policy has also been sharply criticized by three San Diego County Grand Jury reports as inequitable.
Supporters
- Sean Elo-Rivera, San Diego City Council President
- Joe LaCava, San Diego City Council Member
- Nicole Capretz, Founder & CEO, Climate Action Campaign
- Kim Knox, President, League of Women Voters of San Diego
President & CEO of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association Haney Hong said his organization doesn’t support the current ballot measure. He wants a different manner of reform: stop charging everyone fees unless they’re being extra wasteful.
“If you want to make this more fair and more equitable, the answer is not charging everybody twice, including the single-family homeowners, the answer is charging everybody once. And then actually having the city make sure that the property taxes that renters end up paying into are used to collect their trash,” Hong said.
Opponents
- Richard Rider, San Diego Tax Fighters
- Carl DeMaio, Chairman, Reform California
- Brian Jones, State Senator
- Scott Sherman, Former Chair, City of San Diego Audit Committee
Measure C — Midway building height limit
What does it do?
Measure C would allow the construction of new buildings taller than 30 feet in the Midway District. In 1972, city voters approved a 30-foot coastal height limit on all new buildings outside downtown and west of the I-5 freeway. Measure C would carve out the Midway District from that height limit. Development would still be subject to the height limit that corresponds with a property’s underlying zoning.
Why is it on the ballot?
Many Midway residents and property owners, and advocates for more housing in San Diego, have long sought the neighborhood’s removal from the 30-foot height limit as a way to spark its revitalization. Midway is currently blighted with strip malls and strip clubs, and the owners of those properties are unlikely to build anything new if it can’t exceed 30 feet. City leaders also want to redevelop the 48-acre Sports Arena property with thousands of affordable and market-rate homes and a new arena, but cannot do so under the current height restrictions.
San Diego voters already approved a ballot measure that is identical to Measure C in November 2020. But opponents sued the city, arguing it had not properly analyzed the environmental impacts of allowing taller buildings. The city lost the initial court battle and is appealing. At the same time, it is asking voters the same question it did in 2020 after having done additional environmental analysis. The same plaintiffs sued again, arguing the latest analysis was still insufficient.
What are the arguments for and against?
Supporters of Measure C say the Midway District is not a coastal neighborhood and should never have been grouped with communities like Point Loma or La Jolla in the 1972 ballot measure that established the 30-foot coastal height limit. They say keeping the height limit in place will entrench the status quo of blight in Midway and prevent thousands of homes from being built at a time when San Diego needs more housing.
Supporters
- Midway-Pacific Highway Community Planning Group
- San Diego County Democratic Party
- San Diego County Republican Party
- Climate Action Campaign
Measure C’s opponents say while Midway is not a beach neighborhood, it is a place many people drive through to get to the beach, and that increased development will make traffic through the area worse. They also argue exemptions to the coastal height limit should be voted on project-by-project, not across an entire neighborhood, so voters know exactly what projects they are enabling with their vote.
Opponents
- Carolyn Chase, CEO of San Diego EarthWorks
- Phillip Halpern, retired US attorney
- John McNab, President, Save Our Access
- Carl DeMaio, Chairman, Reform California
Measures D, E, H, L, F, G, J, K, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, U
We teamed up with Voter’s Edge California to offer in-depth information about what’s on your ballot. You can explore all other local measures with this interactive guide!