So, Measure C Passed?

By Scott Lewis and Lisa Halverstadt, the Voice of San Diego

March 27, 2025

The city of San Diego announced this week that it would start to collect the higher hotel-room tax prescribed in 2020’s Measure C. Measure C got a majority of support from voters but not two-thirds and opponents have argued that means it did not pass. But supporters have said it qualifies under the still open loophole that citizens initiatives can pass, even with special tax increases, with support of just a bare majority of voters.

The two weird things: We pointed out the awkward reality that the measure promised an expansion of the Convention Center and yet it can’t deliver it now in the post-Covid era of inflation. The Convention Center expansion was why many conservatives like former Mayor Kevin Faulconer and former City Councilmember Scott Sherman supported it — and the intial city announcement on new tax collections didn’t commit to that expansion.

We asked Rachel Laing, a spokesperson for Mayor Todd Gloria, to clarify the city’s Convention Center plans.

“The city will work with stakeholders to determine how best to proceed to improve the Convention Center to ensure the longevity and success of this essential economic asset,” she wrote in a text message.

So we’ll perhaps see what that means.

But the other awkward point: It wasn’t immediately clear who was making the decision to collect the higher tax. The announcement came from the city itself, not the mayor’s office. Though the city has won many court decisions affirming that the tax passed, it’s not completely vindicated by courts yet.

We asked the city attorney’s office why they decided to go forward collecting the tax. They said it wasn’t their call.

“On Sept. 3, 2024, Judge [Wendy] Behan issued an order in the Measure C trial favorable to the city on all issues. Whether and when the city elects to collect the additional TOT and what it intends to do with those funds are both policy decisions that are within the mayor’s purview,” they said.

Laing clarified that Gloria did indeed give direction to start collecting higher hotel taxes. She also told us the plan is to set the new revenue from collections of the tax aside until the court actions are completely resolved, which means those collections are unlikely to immediately help the city address its massive budget deficit for the fiscal year that starts in July.

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