San Bernardino County voters OK law enforcement funding, reject hotel tax

Voters in San Bernardino County approved a measure for law enforcement funding and predominantly said no to an 11% transient occupancy tax, according to election results released Thursday.

Measure L sought to require the Board of Supervisors to include a minimum amount of funding in the county’s annual budget to fund the costs of sheriff’s patrols in unincorporated areas. The dedicated funding specifically is for deputies’ direct salary and benefit costs for operations in the county’s unincorporated areas.

Starting Jan. 1 the new county law, called the Law Enforcement Staffing and Community Protection Act, also would raise the annual base salary for elected county officials, excluding members of the Board of Supervisors and the superintendent of schools.

The sheriff and district attorney each will receive about a $100,000 raise, bringing their salaries up to par with officials in neighboring counties, according to the measure.

Sheriff Shannon Dicus made just over $574,900 in 2022 in cash compensation and benefits, according to transparentcalifornia.com. Last year District Attorney Jason Anderson received more than $431,800.

According to election results from the county voter registrar’s office, Measure L received 62.6% of the vote compared with 37.4% of ballots cast against it. Yes votes totaled 254,910, and 152,495 no votes were reported.

More information on Measure L is on the county’s website, sbcounty.gov.

A majority of county voters rejected Measure K, which sought to impose an 11% transient occupancy tax on hotels, short-term rentals and other lodging businesses. The county’s current tax rate of 7% was set in 2002.

Votes against Measure K totaled 234,027, or 56.9%, while yes votes numbered 177,028 for 43.1%.

Supporters of the measure said it would have generated an additional $9.4 million to be spent on road repairs, parks and public safety.