Voters Approve Ballot Measure To Increase Alameda County Sales Tax To Fund Health Care Facilities
About 70.9% of Alameda County voters on Tuesday voted in favor of Measure A, which will increase the sales tax in Alameda County by half a cent to provide about $90 million annually for Alameda County Medical Center and other health care facilities, the Contra Costa Times reports (Ashley, Contra Costa Times, 3/4). Measure A, which required a two-thirds majority to pass, will increase the county's sales tax to 8.75%, the highest sales tax rate in the state. Three-fourths of the revenue from the increase would go to Alameda County Medical Center, which operates three public hospitals in Oakland and San Leandro and community clinics in Oakland, Hayward and Newark. The remaining 25% of the revenue would go to private health care providers that serve Medi-Cal beneficiaries and indigent patients (California Healthline, 3/3). Support for Measure A was strongest among voters in areas served by ACMC facilities, with 83.3% of voters in the northern district where ACMC is located voting in favor. About 66.6% of voters from the district that includes Hayward and Freemont supported Measure A, and about 56.7% of voters from the district that includes Pleasanton and Livermore supported it (Contra Costa Times, 3/4).
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