By Daniel Lempres
The Sacramento Bee
EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. — A proposed 30-year sales tax increase to fund hospital improvements, emergency response and wildfire prevention in El Dorado County fell short of majority support in early unofficial election night returns Tuesday.
As of 11:40 p.m., Measure S had 66.6% “no” votes and 33.4% “yes” votes, according to unofficial results from the El Dorado County Elections Department.
| WATCH: EMS ONE-STOP: Confronting FDNY’s EMS challenges
The initial results included ballots mailed before Election Day, with more votes left to be counted. The measure needed a simple majority to pass.
The proposal would increase the county’s sales tax by three-eighths of a cent for 30 years, generating an estimated $13 million annually.
The additional revenue would fund hospital improvements, local fire agencies and nonprofit organizations conducting wildfire-prevention work.
During the first full fiscal year, 50% of the money would go to eligible hospitals, 45% to fire agencies and 5% to qualifying nonprofits. In subsequent years, the hospital’s share would be tied to debt payments for qualifying projects.
Marshall Medical Center, which operates Marshall ...