Image: The campaign for and against Measure K has been so subdued that I had couldn’t find a graphic.
Santa Monica Next urges you to vote “Yes” on Measure K this fall. Measure K will help the city to recover some of the financial footing it’s lost in recent years and restore needed city services.
If passed by a majority of Santa Monica voters this fall, the measure would raise an estimated $6,700,000 annually by placing an additional 8% tax on parking fees charged by a parking facility operator. This will bring the tax to 18%, and because city-owned lots are exempt from the city’s parking facilities tax, the city estimates that most of the increased rates will be paid by visitors and tourists.
The City’s Parking Facility Tax does not apply to street parking meters owned or operated by the City, preferential parking permits, or parking fees paid as part of a lease or rental agreement for stays exceeding thirty consecutive days.
Measure K is one of the city’s first attempts to fill the giant hole that was punched in the city’s budget by pandemic-related tourism slowdowns and lawsuits for decades old misdeeds. The Council placed the measure on the ballot with a unanimous vote, after rejecting a similar measure at a meeting earlier that would have dedicated the funds to restoring the city’s funds for road repair and improvement that had been cut in this year’s budget.
Instead, the funding can be used more broadly for “any governmental purpose” and will be added to the city’s general fund.A statement supporting the ballot measure was signed by the heads of the police and firefighter’s union, former Mayor Ted Winterer and Next contributor Juan Matute. Winterer and Matute signed the measure on behalf of parents and public schools support organizations. No organization or individual submitted an essay against the ballot measure to the city for publication.
