UPDATED on Nov. 10th, 2016: Semi-final Results are in!
Measure A (Nevada County): 23,060 voted Yes and 10,366 voted No.
Measure M (Placer County): 66,335 voted Yes and 37,785 voted No.
Measure E (Placer County): 814 voted Yes and 228 voted No.
Question 3 (Nevada): 133,765 voted Yes and 68,103 voted No.
Trickling down from the mighty battle for the Oval Office, a litany of county and state initiatives face voters this November. California alone has a whopping 17 ballot measures, with items like the legalization of recreational marijuana (Nevada will vote on this as well), repealing the death penalty, a two-dollar price hike on a pack of cigarettes, ammunition regulations, and more. Here we briefly highlight some local measures in Nevada and Placer Counties, as well as the state of Nevada, that have the potential to impact our Tahoe lives.
Measure A (Nevada County)
Measure A seeks to create more funding for the six libraries (with one in Truckee) of Nevada County by introducing a new 15-year, quarter-cent sales tax, and replacing the existing eighth-of-a-cent tax. The tax, if passed, is expected to raise about $4 million per year, with the amount to consumers equaling an additional 25 cents for every $100 spent. The library sales tax currently provides 65 percent of the library budget. The past year in Nevada County residents visited the library system 346,962 times and checked out 678,793 items.
Measure M (Placer County)
This ballot measure would increase retail sales tax by a half percent to raise funds for transportation improvements. The tax will be effective for 30 years, and if passed the measure would raise $53 million annually for a total of $1.6 billion.
Measure E (Placer County)
Measure E, if approved, would affirm an ordinance by the North Tahoe Public Utility District requiring that members of the Board of Directors be elected at large. This would confirm the recent switch from “by seat” to “at large” elections adopted by the Board of Directors in November 2015. Under “by seat” elections, candidates must declare for a particular numbered seat on the board. Under “at large” elections, candidates simply declare their candidacy for the board, and the candidates receiving the greatest number of votes district-wide are elected.
Question 3 (Nevada)
The Nevada Legislature to Minimize Regulations on the Energy Market and Eliminate Legal Energy Monopolies Amendment, also known as Question 3, will be on the ballot in Nevada as an initiated constitutional amendment. Currently, utility companies in Nevada are permitted to establish monopolies in their geographic service areas. The Nevada Public Utilities Commission, whose members are appointed by the Nevada Governor, regulates utility prices and other energy policies. A “yes” vote supports inserting language into the Nevada Constitution requiring “an open, competitive retail electric energy market,” the reduction of energy market regulations, and the elimination of energy monopolies.
