Hayward sales-tax extension measure headed to November ballot
July 9, 2024
The Hayward City Council voted last month to call an election on Nov. 5 on a proposed ballot measure to extend without increasing the City of Hayward half-cent sales tax for an additional 20 years beyond its current 2034 end date.
The half-cent sales tax was originally enacted following the Great Recession of 2008 with passage of Measure C on June 3, 2014, to restore and maintain Hayward city services and facilities, including replacement of the downtown library, repairing potholes and streets and updating neighborhood fire stations.
Today, revenue from the sales tax is used to bolster Hayward police, 911 emergency dispatch and maintenance services prioritized in 2014 by the City Council and the Hayward community, including 14 positions at the Hayward Police Department and nine groundskeeper and general maintenance positions at the Maintenance Services Department.
The revenue also has been used to build the new downtown Hayward Public Library and adjacent Heritage Plaza; retrofit and improve five neighborhood fire stations; carry out what was at the time the largest annual Pavement Improvement Project in City history; and construct a new Fire Station No. 6 and regional Fire and Rescue Training Center in partnership with Chabot College and the Chabot-Las Positas Community College District.
In May of this year, a public opinion survey carried out on behalf of the City found strong support for a no-increase extension of the sales-tax—with 72 percent in favor of extending the tax for an additional 20 years, until 2054, to continue providing for essential City services, improving streets and modernizing City facilities.
