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By: @Kyle Packham

Of the 700 measures on local ballots throughout California for the November 5, 2024 General Election, 44 were related to special districts and the essential services they provide to communities throughout the state.

According to CaliforniaCityFinance.com, out of the 44 special district measures on November 2024 local ballots, 24 achieved the two-thirds voter approval necessary to pass. This resulted in a 55 percent pass-rate for special district measures, similar to the pass-rate for other two-thirds vote measures put forward by counties (43 percent) and cities (61 percent).

Among the 44 special district measures, 10 consisted of general obligation (G.O.) bonds. Had Proposition 5 passed in the November 2024 statewide election, most local government G.O. bonds would have required the same 55 percent vote threshold that school bonds require. However, because Proposition 5 failed, a two-thirds super-majority vote was needed. Four of the 10 special district G.O. bonds met that high passage threshold. Five of the remaining six would have met the 55 percent threshold, but fell just short of the required two-thirds vote.

Five of the six failing special district G.O. bond measures received greater than 55 percent support and less than two-thirds:

• Pleasant Hill Recreation and Park District, Measure O Contra Costa County, $77m 
• o   64.5 percent yes
• Orangevale Recreation and Park District, Measure L Sacramento County, $24m
• o   62.8 percent yes
• Scotts Valley Fire Protection District, Measure S Santa Cruz County, $24.5m
• o   61.8 percent yes
• McFarland Recreation and Park District, Measure S Kern County, $15m
• o   60.3 percent yes
• Central Fire District, Measure R Santa Cruz County, $221m
• o   57.5 percent yes
• Beach Cities Health District, Measure BC Los Angeles County, $30m
• o   47.5 percent yes

Four special district G.O. bond measures passed with better than a two-thirds vote:

• Cambria Community Health Care District, Measure C San Luis Obispo County, $5.9m
• o   76.8 percent yes
• Keyes Fire Protection District, Measure H Stanislaus County, $7m
• o   74.3 percent yes
• Fulton-El Camino Recreation and Park District, Measure Q Sacramento County, $24m
• o   73.9 percent yes
• Sacramento Metro Fire District, Measure O Sacramento/Placer Counties, $415m
• o   69.1 percent yes

In addition to the 10 special district G.O. bonds on the November 2024 ballot, voters considered 34 special district parcel tax measures and approved 20 of them with two-thirds majority. The details of these actions can be found on page 19 of Michael Coleman’s Local Revenue Measure Results paper at CaliforniaCityFinance.com. The report also provides information related to the rest of the city, county, and school measures that make up the 700 total local measures on November 5, 2024 General Election ballots in California.