Lincoln Sales Tax Measure Leads as Business Owners Warn of Added Costs
As Californians continue to grapple with the cost of living, a proposed sales tax increase in the city of Lincoln could make shopping more expensive for residents.
Measure F is leading in ballot counts and would raise the city's sales tax by 1 percentage point, bringing the rate to 8.25%. The proposal has drawn opposition from some local business owners, including Diana Burke, who owns Simple Pleasures Restaurant in Lincoln. Burke said the increase could put additional financial pressure on her family-owned business, which has been open for decades.
"We're already impacted financially and the environment that we have today, we have two large communities right beside us that their sales tax is lower," Burke said.
Lincoln Mayor Richard Pearl supports the measure, saying the city needs additional revenue to address a projected $2 million budget deficit. The city has pledged to use the new tax revenue first to add paramedics to its fire crews. Lincoln currently does not have paramedics on its fire crews, despite having a sizable population of residents ages 55 and older.
"Most importantly, to stand up a full paramedic service, and it's not just adding one paramedic to each crew 24-7, but it's actually upgrading the medical capability education for all the members of the fire department," Pearl said.*
Political strategist Andrew Acosta, who works on citywide campaigns across California, said the proposed increase would cost Lincoln households an estimated 50 cents per day.
"From my experience, voters don't have a calculator out, and they're hitting the calculator to figure out what everything costs. I think they are viewing this as, 'Is this a good value for the dollar?' " Acosta said.
Pearl said the city is not looking to raise revenue without a plan for how to spend it.
"We're not saying, 'Give us money. We're just going to spend it, spend it, spend it,' " Pearl said.
But Burke said businesses will feel the impact of the higher tax rate.
"Bottom line, as the owner, I get to absorb that impact," she said.