6/10/2026
SALES TAX TRACKING SURVEY
CONDUCTED FOR THE
CITY OF SANTEE
PRESENTED BY
TIMOTHY MCLARNEY PH.D.
2 oGauge support for a local sales tax measure in the
current environment
o Identify how to create a measure consistent with
community priorities
oGather information needed for communications &
outreach
PURPOSE OF STUDY
3 o How did we select voters to survey?
o Stratified & Clustered Random Sample of likely November 2026 voters using age, gender, partisanship, household party type, and sub-geographies o Ensures balanced, representative sample of likely voters o How did we recruit participation?
o Personalized email, text, and telephone calls
o PINs to restrict access and ensure one complete per respondent o How were voters able to share their opinions?
o Secure, PIN-protected website that scales to the device o Telephone (land line or mobile)
o English & Spanish
o May 19 to May 27, 2026
o What was the sample size?
o 436 completed interviews
o Overall margin of error of ± 4.7% @ 95% level of confidence
METHODOLOGY OF STUDY
4 QUALITY OF LIFE
Excellent
22.7 Good
61.1 Fair
13.4 Poor
1.1 Very poor
1.5 Prefer not to
answer
0.1 5
CHANGES TO IMPROVE CITY
20.7 17.0
13.9 11.8
10.1 8.6
8.1 5.3
4.8 3.8
3.7 2.3
1.7 1.7
1.7 1.6
1.6 1.6
1.6 1.5
4.4 2.4
0 5 10 15 20 25
Improve infrastructure, roads
Reduce traffic congestion
Not sure / Cannot think of anything specific
Address homeless issues
Clean up, beautify City
Enforce traffic laws
Limit growth, development
Improve parks, rec facilities
No changes needed / Everything is fine
Improve shopping, dining opportunities
Improve public safety
Improve city planning, development
Fix, upgrade rundown buildings
Synchronize traffic lights
Address rent control issues
Reduce cost of living
Oppose Fanita Ranch project
Improve fire mitigation
Provide more sidewalks
Provide, attract movie theater
Provide rec activities, events for all ages
Improve schools, education
% Respondents
6 OVERALL SATISFACTION
Not sure
5.6 Prefer not to
answer
0.4 Very
dissatisfied
5.7 Somewhat
dissatisfied
7.9 Very satisfied
22.5 Somewhat
satisfied
57.9 7
INITIAL BALLOT TEST
To provide funding for City of Santee services and infrastructure, such as:
o Fixing streets and potholes
o Keeping streets, sidewalks, parks and public facilities safe, clean, and well-maintained
o Repairing/replacing aging infrastructure and stormdrains o Local traffic management
o And fire protection, paramedic, crime prevention, and 911 emergency response
shall City of Santee’s ordinance establishing a one cent sales tax be adopted, providing approximately 14 million dollars annually for city services for 10 years, with independent audits, citizen oversight, and all money locally controlled?
8 INITIAL BALLOT TEST
Prefer not to
answer
0.8 Not sure
7.8 Definitely no
19.3 Probably no
12.0 Probably yes
29.3 Definitely yes
30.9 31% 60%
9 PROJECTS & SERVICES
62.0 60.6
66.4 52.7
54.1 55.1
58.9 48.4
46.8 51.5
29.5 27.6
26.9 20.9
33.9 31.4
29.3 25.5
33.1 33.1
20.8 41.3
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Keep streets, sidewalks, parks, public facilities safe, clean, wellmaintained Make improvements to roads, intersections, bike lanes, signals to reduce congestion
Fix potholes and pave/maintain city streets
Construct and repair fire stations, where needed, to improve 911 emergency response, community safety
Repair aging infrastructure including storm drains, pipes, bridges, sidewalks, public facilities
Provide quick responses to 911 emergencies
Provide fire protection and paramedic services
Remove graffiti, clean-up piles of trash and litter along streets, sidewalks, in public areas
Provide crime prevention and investigations
Address homelessness
Maintain adequate reserves to protect the City’s long-term financial health
% Respondents
Strongly favor Somewhat favor
10 POSITIVE ARGUMENTS
39.2 37.8
34.6 41.0
42.6 32.6
35.9 36.4
28.4 29.5
30.0 37.3
38.3 38.8
32.0 30.3
37.7 34.0
33.5 41.1
35.1 34.3
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Many facilities, fire stations built 50+ yrs ago, never modernized; don’t meet building, safety codes, need repair for leaky roofs, electrical, plumbing, structural issues; some contain asbestos, lead pipes
Original storm drainpipes installed 50+ yrs ago, sections starting to fail, creating sink holes, flooding, landslides that damage streets, private properties; measure provides funding to fix storm drains
Fast 911 response times critical for saving lives; measure will ensure we have enough law enforcement officers, firefighters, paramedics to respond quickly to 911 emergencies
Since 1964 population grown from 11K to ~60K; during this time added just one fire station; we need a new fire station to adequately protect community, improve emergency response times
All money raised by measure will stay local to fund essential services, facilities here in Santee; by law, it can’t be taken away by State, County City maintains 283 lane mi of streets, 88 mi of storm drains, 315 acres of parks, playfields; measure provides funding we need to keep streets, infrastructure, parks in good condition
Most sales tax generated goes to State, County, SANDAG; measure ensures that a higher percentage of sales tax dollars stay here in Santee, we have local control over how those funds are spent
City of Santee has $300M+ in unfunded projects that need to be completed; the longer we wait to fix streets, facilities, infrastructure, the more expensive it will become
By keeping city safe, clean, well-maintained, measure will help protect quality of life and keep Santee a special place to live
We need to add two local fire stations to make sure all Santee neighborhoods can get rapid response in the event of a fast-moving wildland fire Measure includes a clear system of accountability incl citizen oversight, independent audits, public disclosure of how all funds are spent % Respondents
Very convincing Somewhat convincing
11 INTERIM BALLOT TEST
Definitely yes
32.5 Probably yes
30.6 Probably no
12.0 Definitely no
19.9 Not sure
4.3 Prefer not to
answer
0.8 63%
32%
12 NEGATIVE ARGUMENTS
46.8 44.8
40.2 35.1
30.3 33.6
30.3 27.1
32.2 32.8
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Residents, local businesses have been hit hard by inflation, high interest rates, spiking fuel prices, cost of living increases; many are struggling to stay afloat; now is not time to raise taxes
Everyone is coming after us for tax increases, incl state, county taxes, school bonds, other taxes that will be on ballot later this yr; enough is enough; we can’t afford to keep raising taxes
Developers are causing population growth, associated
problems, they should be the ones to pay to fix them, not taxpayers
There are no guarantees on how funds will be spent, which means City can divert money to pet projects without any say from voters; we can’t trust City with tax dollars; they will mismanage money
City isn’t listening to us; voters rejected this same measure two years ago
% Respondents
Very convincing Somewhat convincing
13 FINAL BALLOT TEST
Prefer not to
answer
1.3 Not sure
7.4 Definitely no
20.7 Probably no
12.7 Probably yes
27.8 Definitely yes
30.2 33% 58%
14 FINAL BALLOT TEST AT HALF CENT
Prefer not to
answer
1.3 Not sure
5.9 Definitely no
17.3 Probably no
11.9 Probably yes
4.8 Definitely yes
1.0 Yes @ one cent
(Q11)
58.0 15
KEY CONCLUSIONS
Does a local sales tax measure still appear feasible for November 2026? Yes, but it will require outreach & communications and if referred to the ballot, support from an independent committee not affiliated with the City.
Positive Signs
o Voters value the quality of life in Santee and the services they receive from the City, but also see room for improvements
o Sufficient natural support for measure to fund city services (60%) o Popular projects and services
o Positive arguments resonate
o All ballot tests are above the simple majority (50%+1) required for passage of general tax, even after opposition arguments
Challenges & External Factors
o Opposition arguments resonate (-5%)
o Challenging economic environment: war/fuel prices, tariffs, inflation, cost- of-living concerns, consumer sentiment at record low o Challenging political climate: Hyper-partisanship, competing measures, and blue wave?
Community Mailer Response
Responses collected from May 19, 2026 – June 9, 2026
Responses as of June 9, 2026
17 18
Responses as of June 9, 2026
19 Responses as of June 9, 2026
20 Responses as of June 9, 2026
Top Comments by Category
21 Ballot Measure Planning
Political Landscape
Needs Identified
Tax Rate
Election Timing
Voter Survey
Non-Advocacy
Communication
Existing comms
Informational
mailers / digital ads
Internal and
external audiences
Seek feedback
Refine proposal
Community
readiness?
Tracking survey?
Ballot Resolution/
Ordinance
75 words
Projects & Programs
Ballot Argument &
Signers
Official Vote
(>88 days pre Election)
March 6 (Primary)
Aug 7 (General)
Volunteer leaders
Fundraising
Website/Social
Endorsements
Grassroots
Lawn Signs
Mailers
Digital Ads
Get Out the Vote
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privately funded