Alameda County is ready to unleash Measure C windfall for children

Supervisors are set to approve $165 million in new funding for child care and education

Logo for Measure C, the 2020 Alameda County half-cent sales tax increase ballot measure that was held up in court for nearly four years.

☕️MORNING BUZZ

—In March 2020, Alameda County approved Measure C, a 20-year, half-cent sales tax increase to support early childhood health and education with the support of 64 percent of voters. Or did they?

A lawsuit sought to block the ballot measure, arguing the threshold for passage should have been a two-thirds majority because it was created by the Board of Supervisors and not driven by residents. The latter process requires only a simple majority for passage.

In April 2024, four years after Measure C was approved by voters, the validity of the ballot measure was upheld by a state appellate court.

Amidst the uncertainty of Measure C, the county had been collecting the extra half-cent since July 2021. Last year, Supervisor David Haubert estimated that Measure C had amassed $300 million to $500 million in tax receipts.

The sudden influx of up to $500 million for child care in Alameda County

—A request to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors for the first $165.8 million in funding is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. The funding will cover the current fiscal year and Fiscal Year 2025-26.

—Sixty percent of the initial outlay will go to service providers. Below is the proposed breakdown in funding:

• Service providers $84.6 million

• Services for families $25.3 million

• Facilities upkeep $20.4 million

• Planning and implementation $11.5 million

—First 5 Alameda County, which is administering the program, is asking for a 15 percent administrative fee, which pencils out to $16.3 million for the current fiscal year.

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