An Oceanside sales tax measure has brought in more than $100 million since voters approved it in 2018. It’s going to expire soon, and city officials are considering asking voters to extend it this November.
It’s called Measure X, and it raised sales taxes in Oceanside by half a cent. City officials expected it to bring in about $11 million in revenue annually, but it has far exceeded those expectations each year.
Our Tigist Layne reviewed the city’s financial documents and budget reports to see what exactly the city has spent that money on since the tax went into effect.
The big three: When Oceanside residents were surveyed about Measure X back in 2017, they collectively indicated that the revenue go to infrastructure improvements, public safety and homelessness.
Financial documents show that’s what city leaders have done.
Infrastructure projects and public safety measures received the most Measure X dollars. Efforts to manage the homelessness crisis saw the least Measure X funds.
North County Report: Increasing Homelessness to the North
It is in North County as it is across the rest of the region: Homelessness is still increasing.
The biggest increases happened in North Inland County, according to the region’s recently-released, point-in-time count. Homelessness increased in the inland region by 34 percent. That’s way above the countywide increase of just 3 percent.
The highest number of homeless people in North County — 401 — live in Escondido, reports our Tigist Layne in her North County Report.
The literal number of people living on the streets in Vista — in other words, not in a shelter — also nearly doubled to 170.
Read the full North County Report here.
In Other News
- Cue Health, a San Diego-based company that specialized in making rapid Covid-19 tests, is laying off all its employees and shutting up shop. The FDA recently told people to throw away Cue tests because they could give false results. The test was the only commercially-approved product produced by Cue. (Union-Tribune)
- Rent in San Diego dipped last year. But it wasn’t nearly enough to reverse the increases that happened during the pandemic. (Axios)
- Authorities issued an evacuation warning to a neighborhood in Rancho Santa Fe after a brushfire broke out. (FOX 5 & KUSI News)
- A former San Diego TikTok star gave intense testimony in his own defense in a double-murder case Wednesday. Ali Abubalan is charged with murdering his wife and a friend. He admitted to heavy drug use and broke down on the stand. (Court TV)
- Repairs to the Oceanside Pier are set to cost the city nearly $20 million, after a fire devastated it earlier this year. (FOX 5 & KUSI News)
- The owners of Fashion Valley Mall want to replace the JCPenney with 850 high-end apartment units. (NBC 7)
The Morning Report was written by Tigist Layne and Will Huntsberry. It was edited by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña.