Background

Cities in California face a difficult decision when opting to pursue a sales tax increase. A sales tax targeted for a very specific purpose, (which is often easier for voters to support), requires 67% voter approval. A sales tax for general fund use requires only 50%+1 vote to pass – but the law prohibits any ballot language that guarantees how specific funds will be used.

An effective, message-driven campaign is essential for protecting the credibility of city officials when trying to pass a general sales tax. When the City of Santa Cruz faced the challenge of convincing tax-weary voters that a general-use sales tax would indeed be spent as promised, they came to us.

What We Did

Working closely with a lead city councilmember and other volunteers, we developed an affordable mail plan to generate effective, message-driven campaign brochures. Our creative mail allowed the campaign to show voters the purposes of Measure F funds and avoid the controversial debates over spending priorities and oversight that can often sink tax measure campaigns.