HR 1 Response: Contra Costa County Could See Sales Tax Ask on June Ballot

On Tuesday, the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors will look to place a sales tax in Contra Costa County on the June 2026 ballot.

If approved by voters, the additional 0.625% Transactions and Use Tax would generate approximately $150 million to support general operations of the County for a period of five (5) years.

In January, the Board of Supervisors voted 5 to move forward to direct staff to draft language for a measure citing HR1 and budget pressures which include:

• The passage of H.R. 1 represents a fundamental shift in the relationship between the federal, state and local governments for health and social service programming. In Contra Costa County, this means significant revenue reductions for Medi-Cal (California’s version of Medicaid) and CalFresh (California’s version of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)). These impacts are further exacerbated by certain budgetary actions taken by the California Legislature in the fiscal year 2025/26 budget
• For Medi-Cal, the County projects that annual revenue losses to increase annually to $307 million by fiscal year 2028/29. This is due to two primary drivers, 1) $159 million from Medi-Cal disenrollment due to changing eligibility criteria, and 2) $148 million from loss of supplemental state and federal healthcare funding. It is important to note that the $307 million figure represents an ongoing, structural budget deficit in the Hospital Enterprise Fund (EF1) that will need to be closed to maintain a structurally balanced budget in future years.
• It is additionally noteworthy that the above structural deficit projections do not include the increased costs from negotiations with the County’s labor unions, which are currently in progress, nor does it include an estimated $170 million, one-time capital cost requirement to retrofit portions of the County Hospital for earthquake safety.

Sales Tax image provided by Contra Costa County

If You Go:
Contra Costa County board of Supervisors Meeting
February 10, 2026
9:00 am
1025 Escobar St., Martinez, CA 94553
Full Agenda – click here
Board Presentation – click here

Previous:

• Jan 20, 2026- Contra Costa County Supervisors Agree to Move Forward With Sales Tax Effort