Ten local measures will appear on the March 3 ballot, one each in as many localities throughout San Bernardino County. All but one involves proposed taxes or assessments, with the lone exception being a proposed general plan change in Redlands. In the cases of two of the places where the request for a new tax is to be voted upon, within the San Bernardino Mountains Communities Hospital District and the Rim of the World School District, there is a geographical overlap.
Measure Z is a bond proposition to be voted upon by residents within the Mountain View School District in southeastern Ontario.
Known also as the “Mountain View School District Student Safety and School Repair Measure” it will if passed by 55 percent or more of the district’s voters authorize $33 million in bonds for School Facilities Improvement District No. 3 at legal rates, levying on property owners an assessment of 2 cents per $100 of assessed value of their property. The proceeds will be used to update science, technology, engineering, art and math classrooms; upgrade air conditioning, electrical, fire safety, security, lighting, communications/camera systems, classroom locks; and construct, acquire, repair or equip classrooms, facilities and sites.
Measure A is a bond proposition to be voted upon by residents within the Rim of the World School District in the San Bernardino Mountains.
Known also as the “Rim of the World Unified School District Quality Education, Safety, Repair, College/Career Readiness Measure” it will if passed by 55 percent or more of the district’s voters authorize $55.5 million in bond sales to repair deteriorating school facilities, including roofs, plumbing and electrical facilities and improve classrooms and labs for math, science, engineering, arts, skilled trades and college readiness. It will levy on property owners 3 cents per $100 assessed value of their properties.
Measure B is a bond proposition to be voted upon by residents within the Beaumont School District to improve safety and security systems and replace roofs, plumbing and electrical facilities and improve classrooms and labs for math, science, engineering, arts, skilled trades and college readiness. It will levy on property owners $50 per $100,000 of assessed value of their property.
Measure C is a bond proposition to be voted upon by residents within the Morongo Unified School District authorizing the issuance of $55.6 million for classroom safety, renovation and construction projects. It will levy on property owners an assessment of 3.686 cents per $100 of assessed value of their property. It will need at least 55 percent of the vote to pass.
Measure D is a bond proposition to be voted upon by residents within the Victor Elementary School District that if passed by a margin of 55 percent or more will provide for the issuance of $48 million in bonds to increase safety and security of the schools and build more facilities to relieve overcrowding, and support science, technology, math and engineering education. It will levy upon property owners an assessment of $19 per $100,000 of assessed value of their property.
Measure E is a sales tax proposition to be voted upon by residents in the City of Yucaipa. If passed by 50 percent plus one of the voters, it will adopt the City of Yucaipa Transactions and Use Tax Ordinance of 2020, known also as the “Sales Tax Ordinance.” Measure E would increase the city’s existing sales tax rate by 0.5%, or one half of one cent, on every dollar of taxable sales of goods in the city, and on the taxable storage, use or consumption in the city of goods purchased.
The measure proposes a general tax. The city has estimated the tax increase will raise approximately $2.1 million per year in new local revenue for use in the city.
Measure F is a proposition to be voted upon by Barstow residents that would impose a city tax on the sale of marijuana and marijuana products within that municipality.  If passed by two-thirds of the city’s voters, Measure F will impose on those in the city growing marijuana an annual tax of $30 per square foot of cultivating area and impose on businesses engaged in selling marijuana a 15 percent tax on their gross receipts. The city expects the tax to raise roughly $100,000 per year. Fifty percent of the proceeds will go to augment law enforcement function in the city and the other 50 percent will go to the city’s general fund.
Measure G is a general plan amendment to be voted upon by the residents of Redlands. If passed by 50 percent or more of the city’s electorate, Measure G would eliminate a host of previous voter-approved limitations on the intensity of development that can occur in Redlands.
Specifically, Measure G would eliminate the current requirement that a four-fifths vote of the city council is needed to approve residential densities exceeding 18 dwelling units per acre. Measure G would eliminate the current requirement that a four-fifths vote of the city council is needed to approve residential buildings exceeding two stories or 35 feet in height. Measure G would eliminate the need for developers to ensure that the level of traffic flow that exists at the intersections proximate to their projects prior to the construction of their projects be maintained after the projects are completed. Measure G would eliminate the requirement that the voters of the city rather than the city council be solely authorized to establish any new land use designations in the city. Measure G would eliminate the requirement that the proponents of certain new development projects prepare a socioeconomic‐cost/benefit study before approval of those projects. Measure G would eliminate the requirement that certain residential subdivision projects be subject to competitive review for issuance of building permits. Measure G would eliminate the requirement that the developers of new projects pay 100 percent of the development impact fees that are imposed on those projects. Measure G would rescind voter‐approved measures R, N and U, which prohibit more than 400 residential dwelling units being constructed within the city in any year. Recent state legislation has suspended the city’s enforcement of the measure R, N and U limitation through the year 2025. Approval of Measure G would permanently exempt residential dwelling units constructed within Redlands’ Transit Village Planning Area from the 400 dwelling unit limitation.
Measure H is a special tax proposition to be voted upon by residents within the San Bernardino Mountains Community Hospital District which would make permanent an existing tax that must be renewed every four years. The Measure H tax would as of 2021 impose for each calendar year an assessment of $40 per unimproved parcel, $80 for each parcel containing a single family residence or multiple dwelling units, and $200 per parcel for each parcel developed for commercial purposes. Each calendar year thereafter the amount of the special tax shall increase (but not decrease) by a percentage corresponding to the Consumer Price Index published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for all urban consumers in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario region, not to exceed three percent.
Measure H must be approved by two-thirds of the district’s voters.
The San Bernardino Mountains Community Hospital District encompasses Twin Peaks, Grass Valley, Rimforest, Agua Fria, Crest Park, Lake Arrowhead, Skyforest, Cedar Glen, Enchanted Forest, Fredalba, Smiley Park, Running Springs, Arrowbear Lake, Snow Valley, Green Valley Lake and Deer Lodge Park.
Measure I is a special tax proposition to be voted upon by residents within the Big Bear Fire Authority Community Services District that must pass by a two-thirds vote to go into effect. It will levy an annual six cents per square foot assessment on developed property floor area, with a minimum of $35 per assessor’s parcel and a maximum of $2,500 per assessor’s parcel upon developed properties, residential rental properties and hotels, together with a $78 per room hotel tax. It will also impose on two of the area’s ski resorts $375,000 annual assessments. The proceeds are to be used to provide fire protection services.
-Mark Gutglueck