Transactions and use taxes: San Luis Obispo Council of Governments.

Senator Laird, together with coauthors Limón and Assembly colleagues Addis and Hart, proposes authorizing the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments to levy a local transactions and use tax up to one percent for general or specific purposes, contingent on a voter-approved measure within a defined window. The bill frames this as a special statute for San Luis Obispo County intended to address unique fiscal pressures, allowing the new rate to be counted outside the county’s usual combined-rate cap if certain conditions are met and voters approve the measure between 2026 and 2032.

The core mechanism grants SLOCOG authority to adopt an ordinance proposing a 1% tax that would, when combined with other transactions and use taxes, exceed the county cap, provided four conditions are satisfied: the ordinance is proposed by the council under the applicable voting approval requirement; the electorate approves the ordinance according to constitutional voting thresholds; the approval occurs within the 2026–2032 window; and the tax conforms to the Transactions and Use Tax Law, with the exception of the cap provision. A key feature is a notwithstanding clause clarifying that the new rate shall not be counted for purposes of the cap established by the existing law.

Implementation would occur within the framework of the existing tax law governing local transactions and use taxes, with collection and enforcement carried out under the same administration as other local TUTs. The bill does not specify a dedicated appropriation, distribution formula, or programmatic restrictions beyond allowing “general or specific purposes” as defined in the local ordinance. The authorization is structured to require direct voter approval and to operate within a finite election window, while remaining otherwise aligned with the broader TUT regime except for the cap interaction.

Contextually, the measure rests on findings that San Luis Obispo County faces unique fiscal pressures warranting a tailored statutory approach. If enacted, residents and businesses would face the possibility of an additional tax subject to local ballot approval, with the proceeds defined by the SLOCOG ordinance and administered through the standard tax framework. The proposal interacts with existing local taxes by permitting the county to maintain a separate increment outside the conventional cap, while non-specified revenue allocations and potential transitional rules beyond the election window are left to the ordinance and future decisions by local officials and voters.