Voter Survey Shows Narrow Support for 1¢ Sales Tax; Council Directs Public Education

Vacaville officials received results of a 400-response poll on Feb. 10 that showed plurality support for a hypothetical 1-cent sales-tax measure but also sizeable uncertainty among likely voters. Consultants recommended a targeted public education program to translate plurality support into the majority needed for passage.

Consultant Adam Przybolski summarized the results: while residents give high marks to many city services, the poll measured roughly 49% support for a 1¢ sales-tax measure in an initial, neutral test and found that specific messages shifted opinion. “We get to 49% support. You need 51%—50% plus one,” the consultant said, urging that outreach emphasize oversight, local audits and examples of how funds would be spent. Messages that the revenue would stay in Vacaville, that visitors help pay, and that the city already has made cuts were among the tested frames that moved undecided voters toward support.

Staff recommended the council receive the presentation, authorize public-education efforts about the city’s fiscal condition and service-level tradeoffs, and defer pursuing a business license tax for 2026; the council voted in favor of that recommendation. The consultant and staff also warned that listing specific large projects on a ballot would convert a general tax into a special tax and raise the voter threshold from a simple majority to two-thirds.

Councilmembers asked whether the consultants could test support for specific capital projects; consultants said the poll was designed to test general support and messaging, not a single large facility, and cautioned that describing specific projects would change the measure’s legal classification and the vote threshold. Staff will prepare outreach materials and post more information on the city’s website to explain the options and potential consequences of a yes or no vote.