Why this matters
Oceanside approved a sales tax extension in 2024. The new increase would leave it tied with eight other cities for the highest sales tax rate in San Diego County.
The century-old Oceanside Pier is a gathering spot that had over 1 million visitors last year. Locals and residents alike come to walk, fish or hang out by the ocean. But it has deteriorated so much that 30- to 40-pound pieces of concrete fell off it just a few weeks ago.
Now, the city is saying residents urgently need to fix it.
“We’re lucky that nobody was hit,” Oceanside Assistant City Manager Michael Gossman told inewsource.
Repairing the cement bridge under the Oceanside Pier is one of five infrastructure projects that city officials say they may pursue with an estimated $200 million in new revenue if voters approve a half-cent sales tax increase in November.
Voters last approved a sales tax measure in 2024 when they extended an existing half-cent sales tax for 10 years. If voters support the new increase, the city’s sales tax rate would be 8.75%, tied for highest in San Diego County with eight other cities, including Del Mar, Escondido, San Marcos and Solana Beach.
City officials say this sales tax increase is necessary to repair roads, replenish sand on city beaches and replace aging infrastructure, including a fire station and police headquarters.
But some residents are mounting opposition.
The critics say they were blindsided by the City Council’s unanimous August vote to put the measure on the ballot, and that the city should consider other funding sources instead of a regressive tax that can be a burden on residents, disproportionately costing those with lower incomes.
Diane Nygaard, a politically active Oceanside resident who often speaks out at City Council meetings, said she had no idea about the sales tax proposal until she saw it on a council agenda before the first time it was discussed at a June meeting. She also questions the need and justification for it.
“The process was flawed,” Nygaard said in an interview with inewsource. “It’s a bad time in these challenging economic times to double a very regressive tax like the sales tax. There’s lots of other ways you can raise money that aren’t so impactful on low income residents.”
A history of repairs
Oceanside Mayor Esther Sanchez said building could begin within a year or a year and a half and personified the pier’s concrete bridge in her August vote to put the tax increase on the ballot.
“She’s turning 100 next year,” Sanchez said. “She was only meant to go to 100, and she is crumbling, and she’s becoming a public safety issue.”
Deputy Mayor Eric Joyce said in August that it was “unfortunate” that the sales tax increase was the only option to raise revenue for capital projects. He said he was advancing the measure to let voters decide.
“I’m not going to sugarcoat my feelings on this,” he said. “I wish we had an equity-based revenue measure before us, but instead we have the sales tax measure, which we know disproportionately hits the working poor of the city.”
Nygaard said she was surprised to hear the state of the pier suddenly treated as an emergency, given it is an issue the city has known about for years.
The city replaced portions of the pier in 2017, The Coast News reported at the time. That work was done to make sure the bridge under the pier was stable enough until the city could get $10 to $15 million in funding to replace the bridge walkway.
Oceanside also approved a capital improvement plan this past June that included repairing the pier. The capital improvement program budget said there was currently $10 million available for the project.
Oceanside City Engineer Brian Thomas told inewsource that the concrete portion of the pier has an estimated life through 2030, and it is in need of replacement, not repair. Replacing it is estimated to cost $60 million and result in a usable lifeguard structure for 75 years and a pier life of 100 years.
Thomas said the design could be completed by fall 2027 and construction could begin by summer 2028.
If the sales tax increase doesn’t pass, Gossman said the city would have to make budget cuts elsewhere to maintain a structure that is a part of so many people’s lives.
“We can’t not have a pier,” he said.
Gossman said people are discussing the pier more often because there’s a wisdom to replacing what’s the equivalent of a car with 280,000 miles on it.
“You’re hearing about it now because we have an opportunity to fix it,” he said. “We’re not trying to create artificial panic. Nothing has significantly changed, but I think a lot of people sort of had their head in the sand about it.”
Specifics of the tax hike
The allocation of Oceanside’s additional sales tax revenue would be determined by a subsequent spending plan but a city staff report in June suggested it might go toward five infrastructure projects: the pier, a new fire station, sand replenishment, pavement programs and a new Oceanside police headquarters.
The city said the half-cent sales tax increase would generate $20 million per year and sunset in 10 years, generating $200 million.
Gossman said that the new sales tax proposal emerged after nearly 70% of the city’s voters approved Measure X, a 10-year sales tax extension in the last election. He said citizens seemed open to prioritizing the types of projects the city generally identified that could be funded by increased revenue,
City leaders measured support for revenue increases and identified the top capital improvement needs in a survey of 1,200 likely voters in November. Respondents favored a sales tax increase over a bond measure.
University of San Diego Economics Professor Alan Gin said sales tax increases are a common way for local governments to raise revenue because “the sales tax would be the biggest source of revenue they can get.”
The San Diego County Taxpayers Association is backing Oceanside’s proposal.
CEO Mark Kersey said its support is because Oceanside has shown itself to be financially responsible and because the proposal sunsets in 10 years includes an independent oversight committee and identifies specific infrastructure needs.
City officials say sales taxes are largely paid by people from outside the city and won’t be excessive.
A June Oceanside city staff report said a 2018 study showed that 63% of the sales taxes are paid by people who are not Oceanside residents. The staff report also estimated that the increase on an Oceanside median household earning $66,000 per year would be an additional $67 per year.
Essential items like groceries, prescription medicine and diapers are exempted from sales taxes.
The city’s spending plan
Many of the specifics of the tax measure will not be known when residents vote this fall.
While there will be a citizen review committee and spending plan created later, the money from the sales tax increase could technically be used for anything. The city’s staff report spelled this out, saying, “If this measure were to pass, the funds could be used for any lawful, municipal purpose.” That means that the five identified infrastructure projects are just suggestions, and there’s no official priority list.
Gossman also said his recommendation would be for the city to pass a bond and borrow money, as is common for infrastructure projects.
Nygaard thinks the city should get the money another way.
She suggested increasing development fees or seeking state and federal funds.
But Gossman said that wouldn’t raise the required revenue. He said developers already pay a share and that grants wouldn’t bring in what’s needed.
“Federal and state governments want to see that you have skin in the game,” he said.
The election is Nov. 3 and early voting begins Oct. 6. The measure would pass with majority support.
Type of Content
News: Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
