In spite of being outspent 13 to 1, Antioch’s Yes on Measure O leads by 180 votes
By Allen Payton
UPDATE 3:30 PM, 11/5/14 – Antioch’s Measure O, which, if passed will implement a business license tax on residential rental property owners, is leading by a slim margin of just 180 votes out of a total 10,236 cast in Tuesday night’s election. Due to 95,000 ballots left to be counted in the county, as of Wednesday, November 5 at 1:30 P.M.
In spite of being outspent $173,000 by the No on Measure O committee to about $13,000, the Yes on O committee succeeded in passing what many of its members had worked on for almost two years.
Committee Chairman Don Freitas was excited about the lead, in early returns, Tuesday night. But wasn’t ready to make any victory comments.
The current numbers are 5,208 votes or 50.88% in favor to 5,028 votes or 49.12% opposed to the measure, which only required a simple majority to pass. The next update from the County Elections Office will be at 5 p.m. on Friday, November 7.
The tax is expected to generate $2.27 million a year for the city.
Check back for more updates to this story. For complete election results in Contra Costa County, visit www.cocovote.us.
This result is not the 2/3 majority vote mandated by Proposition 13 which says “…that all local and state taxes need a two-thirds majority vote”.
Simon,
That’s only for a special tax, that can only spent on a specific budget item. The business license tax on residential rental property units in Antioch, known as Measure O is a general tax only requiring 50% + 1 vote to pass. The funds from which will go to the City’s General Fund, which can be spent on anything the council decides. Hopefully, they spend the majority on police. But, they can’t spend all of it on one budget item or they will be in violation of the tax, since it wasn’t placed on the ballot as a special tax.
Allen Payton
Publisher