Sacramento shoppers could soon be paying a bit more at the register so the city can patch its streets and speed up its buses.
A citizen-led campaign has filed a ballot measure with the City Clerk asking voters to sign off on a half‑cent city sales tax to fund road repairs, pedestrian and bicycle safety upgrades, and expanded transit service. Backers say the tax would bring in roughly $70–$75 million a year, with the money split between street work and public transit. To get that question in front of voters this November, the group now has to collect enough signatures to qualify the measure for the ballot.
The full legal text filed with the Clerk would add a 0.5% transactions-and-use tax and create a dedicated Safe Streets and Affordable Transit Fund with locked-in spending rules, according to the City of Sacramento. The filing ties the tax to a rolling five-year spending program, requires yearly audits and a citizen oversight committee, and prohibits using the money to increase automobile capacity. The Clerk’s copy of the document carries a received stamp dated February 20, 2026…