Tuesday, February 10, 2026

County Supervisors to Consider Half-Cent Sales Tax That Could Help Fund Pasadena Public Health

Altadena rebuild authority, Eaton Fire emergency contracts and traffic safety measures also on Tuesday’s agenda

A proposed half-cent sales tax that would raise an estimated $1 billion a year for health care — and send a dedicated share to the City of Pasadena — heads to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday as part of a 66-item agenda that also includes new steps to rebuild Altadena’s fire-damaged infrastructure.

The sales tax proposal, introduced by Supervisors Holly J. Mitchell and Hilda L. Solis, would ask voters on the June 2, 2026, statewide primary ballot to approve a 0.5% general retail transactions and use tax. The measure, titled the Essential Services Restoration Act, is framed as a response to federal funding cuts under H.R. 1 that the county projects will cost it billions in health care dollars over the coming years.

Under the spending plan outlined in the motion, 1% of the revenue would go directly to the City of Pasadena Public Health Department and the City of Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services, divided proportionally based on what each city spent on core public health services over the past five fiscal years.

Pasadena is one of only three cities in California that operates its own health department independent of its county, making the allocation a recognition of that role.

The bulk of the revenue — up to 47% — would fund a program to provide no-cost or reduced-cost care to uninsured, low-income county residents through a network of nonprofit health providers, according to the motion. Another 22% would support county public hospitals and clinics, 10% would go to the Department of Public Health, and 5% would fund school-based health programs administered by L.A. Care Health Plan.

The tax would expire on October 1, 2031, and a nine-member citizens’ oversight committee would review spending and produce annual reports, according to the agenda item. The Board is expected to take a final vote by March 6, the deadline for placing a board-sponsored measure on the June ballot.

If approved by the supervisors, the measure would need a simple majority of voters to pass, as it is structured as a general tax. It would raise the county’s combined sales tax rate to 10.25%, the maximum allowed under state law.

A related ordinance — Agenda Item 64 — would formally amend the county code to implement the tax if voters approve it. The supervisors are expected to introduce and waive reading of the ordinance on Tuesday.