Not an April Fools Joke: Measure A Takes Effect Today, Making Santa Clara One of the Most Heavily Taxed Counties in the State

Not an April Fools Joke: Measure A Takes Effect Today, Making Santa Clara One of the Most Heavily Taxed Counties in the State

Today Santa Clara becomes one of the most heavily taxed counties in the entire state of California. The new 0.625% sales tax increase from Measure A kicks in, layered on top of already sky‑high local rates. Families will feel it at the register immediately. Groceries, school supplies, clothing, appliances, everything will cost more.

During the campaign for Measure A, residents were bombarded with emotional messaging, being told that “People will die if we don’t pass this, our hospitals will collapse.”

Fear was the strategy. Urgency was the hook. And voters were told that without this tax hike, the county’s healthcare system would fall apart.

But here’s what really happened:

The county chose to buy multiple hospitals instead of allowing established healthcare organizations to operate them. That decision created massive long‑term costs. Measure A was sold to us as the fix to keep the hospitals open. Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, O’Connor Hospital & St. Louise Regional Hospital are massive, expensive systems to run and the county has been struggling with mismanagement, staffing shortages, and budget overruns for years. Instead of fixing structural problems, county leaders reached for the easiest lever they know: raise taxes again.

Measure A only needed 50% + 1 to pass because county leaders wrote it as a general tax, not a special tax. Because it is a general tax, money goes into the county’s general fund with no legal restrictions on how it’s spent. The money does NOT have to go to hospitals. The county can spend it on anything they want. Many people who voted yes on Measure A did not know this.

Santa Clara County residents have been generous. They’ve approved tax after tax after tax. But generosity without accountability and honesty is exploitation.

So today, families pay more at the register and small businesses absorb the results of higher costs while the county avoids accountability for the decisions that caused the crisis in the first place.

High taxes. No transparency. No plan.

And we wonder why people are leaving and businesses are closing. And instead of reforming spending, the county keeps coming back to taxpayers for more.

Measure A is just the latest example of government that does NOT serve the people, and it took effect today.