I once heard someone say that government is about “who pays, and who benefits.” There are a lot of sideshows and distractions in politics, but if you think about it, it really does come down to that. We pay taxes, and our taxes are spent on programs and services, which sometimes have broad public benefits, and sometimes narrow.  For South Lake Tahoe voters, Measure S to raise our sales tax rate fails on both fronts (we pay more than the rest of the county, and benefit less) and should therefore be rejected.

In a functioning democracy, we the people collectively decide what we want to fund, and how we’re going to pay for it. It’s about considering tradeoffs and making choices. Unfortunately, at the national level, we’ve grown accustomed to not having to make hard choices about taxes and spending. For example, this Congress has spent tens of billions on the war on Iran, and rather than raise taxes to pay for it, they’ve cut taxes, especially for the wealthiest. The result is a ballooning national debt that is squeezing out other programs that help people and causing mortgage and other rates to climb.

We don’t have the luxury of deficit spending at the local level. We need to pay for what we spend. We don’t get something for nothing. If we want to fill more potholes and repair more roads, we need to find money for it.

Six years ago, the South Lake Tahoe City Council put forward a 1% increase in sales tax, which was passed by voters. The tax has generated millions per year in funding for road repair, police, fire and other essential city services. 

In 2023 and 2024, the Council I served on considered options to establish a dedicated funding source for affordable housing. Before Council reached consensus on whether to put a tax measure on the ballot, or what kind of tax, a group of citizens put forth Measure N, which would have assessed annual fees on homes not used as primary residences to pay for housing, roads, and transit. Unlike the sales tax measure, voters overwhelmingly rejected Measure N. The takeaway was clear:  if you want new revenues to pay for more services, consensus in the community needs to be built around a) the need for new funds and b) how best to pay for those services.

Which brings us to Measure S on this year’s ballot, a proposed 3/8% sales tax for 30 years that will primarily benefit Marshall Medical Center in Placerville, which, not coincidentally, is the primary funder and sponsor of the campaign. Unlike the City’s 2020 sales tax, this Measure S was concocted over the hill, with no input from South Lake Tahoe City Council and little if any from South Lake Tahoe organizations or residents. 

A report prepared by the Taxpayers Association of El Dorado County finds that approximately $273.9 million of Measure S revenue will go to Marshall Medical Center over the life of the tax, including debt service on bonds. Barton Hospital will receive zero. South Lake Tahoe’s sales tax would rise to 9.125%.

Measure S is sold to voters on fire safety, but the Taxpayers Association analysis shows that just 12% of the 45% of the tax for fire agencies will go to South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue in the first year, or just over 5% of total tax revenues. After the first year, Marshall Hospital can pay debt financing costs, and fire agencies get the leftovers. Voters should therefore expect that 5% for South Lake Tahoe Fire is peak funding.

The Taxpayers Association also points out that only 5% of the proposed sales tax increase is reserved for qualifying wildfire-prevention nonprofits countywide, with no information available about how many acres would be treated, or how many projects would be completed.

Meanwhile, South Lake Tahoe residents and visitors will pay a disproportionate share of the total revenues, given our tourism base. Measure S clearly fails the “who benefits and who pays” test for South Lake Tahoe voters: we contribute more per capita than other jurisdictions yet get only pennies on the dollar in return.

While more money for South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue and fire prevention efforts is a laudable goal, we’d get 95% more bang for the buck if we placed our own tax initiative on the ballot and had 100% of our tax revenues stay here. In addition, if Measure S passes, it will squeeze out the opportunity to raise revenues in the future for community priorities, whether for fire or police protection, filling more potholes, paving more roads, improving parks, building bike trails, expanding Lake Link, or anything else.

Please join me in voting No on Measure S.

–John Friedrich, City Council Candidate