County tax · Sales
Measure ER — Essential Services Restoration Act (General Sales Tax for Health Services)
Los Angeles County
Record last reviewed
- Status
- Proposed
- Primary rate
- 0.5%
- Latest revenue
- Not available
- Effective period
About this tax
PROPOSED, not yet in effect. A 0.50% general transactions-and-use (sales) tax placed on the June 2, 2026 primary ballot by the L.A. County Board of Supervisors (motion, amendment, and resolution adopted Feb 10, 2026). Passage requires a simple majority. Because it would push the combined transactions-and-use-tax rate in some L.A. County cities above the 2% cap in Revenue & Taxation Code Section 7251.1, it also requires California State legislature approval to take effect; as of this record the specific enabling statute for Measure ER had not been confirmed (this is distinct from AB 1679 / RTC Sec. 7286.01, which enables the homelessness Measure A — see [[los-angeles-county-measure-a-homelessness-sales-tax]]). Revenue is a general-fund levy; the Board adopted a spending plan (the fund shares recorded here) allocating proceeds to county health, public health, and human services to backfill federal Medi-Cal/SNAP cuts from H.R.1 (One Big Beautiful Bill Act, July 4, 2025). The ~$1B/yr figure is the County's own estimate, not collected revenue. A nine-member citizens' oversight committee and an annual independent Auditor-Controller report (due March 31 each year) are part of the measure.
Rates
-
0.5%
Applies to retail transactions countywide (general sales tax).
Administering agency
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (collection); County of Los Angeles (administration of proceeds)
Agency responsibility may cover collection, administration, or distribution of proceeds.
Where the revenue goes
- Department of Health Services — no/reduced-cost care for low-income uninsured (Section 1204(a) network) 45.0%
- Department of Health Services — safeguard public hospital and clinic services 22.0%
- Department of Public Health — core public health functions and health-equity grants 10.0%
- Non-profit safety-net hospitals 5.0%
- Non-profit family-planning / reproductive-health agencies 5.0%
- Department of Public Social Services — Medicaid outreach, enrollment, work/volunteer programs 3.0%
- Correctional Health Services 2.5%
- In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) 2.5%
- School-based health (L.A. Care Health Plan governing board) 4.0%
- City of Pasadena and City of Long Beach public-health departments 1.0%
Primary and official sources
- L.A. County CEO Fact Sheet — Essential Services Restoration Act General Sales Tax Measure (FAQ, March 2026)
- Resolution of the Board of Supervisors of the County of Los Angeles (sales tax, adopted Feb 10, 2026)
- Ballotpedia — Los Angeles County Measure ER, Sales Tax Increase for Health Services (June 2026)
- RTC Section 7251.1 — combined transactions-and-use-tax 2% cap (CDTFA law guide)