Supervisors Advance June Ballot Measure to Backfill Federal Health Cuts

The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors moved decisively Monday to prepare residents for what could be a bruising fight over federal funding—directing staff to draft a five-year, 5/8-cent countywide sales tax for the June 2026 ballot while approving a contentious hillside subdivision and marking Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a call for civic action.

• Board directs staff to return Feb. 10 with draft ordinance for a 5-year 0.625% general sales tax to backfill anticipated Medi-Cal and social services cuts.

• Green Valley Road rezone and two-lot subdivision approved unanimously despite neighbors' landslide, creek erosion, and wildfire concerns.

• Head Start update highlights federal funding freeze affecting California childcare dollars.

• Human trafficking prevention month proclaimed ahead of Super Bowl and World Cup events.

• Positive Parenting Awareness Month recognized with parent testimony on anger management, therapy support.

The board's most consequential action came near the end of a marathon session when supervisors directed staff to return Feb. 10 with a draft ordinance placing a five-year, 0.625% general countywide transactions and use tax on the June 2026 ballot. The measure would require state legislation—to be carried by Sen. Jesse Arreguín—to raise the county's sales tax cap before it could take effect.