Kings County voters failed to pass Measure K during last week’s California primary election, leaving county and local public safety officials looking for alternative means to fund their departments. The initiative came within about 40 voters countywide of passing.
Measure K would have kept the state sales tax at 7.5 percent in Kings County; the state had previously announced that a special quarter-cent sales tax would be eliminated at the end of the year. Kings County was asking voters to maintain that quarter cent, to be dispersed to county public safety efforts.
The Corcoran Police Department would have shared in the funds, along with Lemoore, Avenal and Hanford and the Kings County Sheriff’s Department. Additionally, the Kings County Fire Department would have received a percentage of the funds generated.
The sales tax revenue from the measure was estimated to provide approximately $350,000 a year to benefit the local police department. The understanding was that the money would be used to augment the department’s existing funds, not replace them.
Measure K required a two-thirds vote to pass. The initiative received 66.37 percent of the overall vote, but needed 66.66 percent to pass. Just 40 more votes would have approved the special sales tax.
In other results, incumbent Richard Valle retained his seat on the Kings County Board of Supervisors, beating local business owner Debra Kwast. Valle received 64 percent of the vote (1,375 votes) compared to Kwast’s 774 for 35 percent. Congressman David Valadao also easily retained his seat, getting almost 70 percent of the vote, while Assemblyman Rudy Salas ran unopposed to stay in his 32nd District seat.
Donald Trump took 77 percent of the county Republican vote in the presidential primary, with Hillary Clinton getting 57 percent of the Democratic count.
