FRESNO, Calif. – Unless there’s a big reversal on the remaining uncounted ballots, Fresno County’s proposed half-cent transportation tax appears headed for defeat.
Despite support from 11 of 15 mayors and roughly $2.7 million in campaign contributions, Measure S is failing to garner the necessary majority of votes tabulated by the Fresno County elections office.
“No” votes on the Fresno County Transportation Improvement Act outpaced “yes” votes 53.4% to 46.6% on 135,582 ballots, according to the latest results published just before midnight Tuesday.
As of Wednesday afternoon, neither side was eager to declare victory or concede defeat. The next update is expected Thursday evening.
“I think we wait for at least one more count,” former Fresno County supervisor and No on S proponent Henry Perea said via text.
Measure S campaign manager Andy Levine remained hopeful of a turnaround Tuesday evening and continued that tone Wednesday afternoon.
Roughly 112,000 ballots are left to be counted, according to Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters James Kus. That includes 108,000 mail ballots received on Tuesday and 4,000 conditional and provisional ballots.
“Seems like we’re only about halfway through the local number of ballots that ultimately will be counted, so still a long way to go,” Levine said via text.
If Measure S fails, Fresno County will be without a local funding source for transportation projects until another goes before voters. The current transportation tax, Measure C, expires in the middle of 2027.
Complicating matters is the apparent success in the city of Fresno of Measure D, which city leaders crafted as a contingency in case Measure S failed to qualify after a prolonged political battle that only ended with a judicial ruling requiring it to be put on the ballot.
Measure D, which calls for a citywide half-cent sales tax increase for 10 years, is leading 57.7% to 42.3% as of the latest ballot update.
Measure D is not a transportation tax. Rather, it is a general sales tax that can be used to maintain local roads and fund public transit and the airport but also improve public safety.
While Fresno County’s largest municipality may be able to locally fund transportation projects if Measure D prevails and Measure S fails, the same cannot be said for Clovis, other cities and unincorporated areas.
Those jurisdictions do receive state road funds from SB 1, the gas tax, but it hasn’t been enough to adequately maintain local streets.
Measure S is projected to generate $7.4 billion during its 30-year lifespan. It aims to substantially increase the amount of money to cities for existing road projects and public transit.
Opponents of Measure S, including Fresno County Supervisor Garry Bredefeld, called it “a 30-year, multi-billion dollar blank check designed to get people out of their cars and onto buses, bikes and scooters.”
