Fool Me Once: Why Riverside Voters Should Reject Measure Z

For nearly a decade, the citizens of Riverside have been told the same story.

We are told the City is in crisis.

We are told essential services are at risk.

We are told police, fire, roads, homelessness, and “quality of life” all depend on giving City Hall more money.

And every time, the answer from the political establishment is the same:

Raise taxes.

Now they are back again with another version of Measure Z.

This time, the City wants to increase the existing Measure Z sales tax from 1 cent to 1.25 cents, pushing Riverside’s total sales tax to 9.00%. Even more concerning, this tax would continue indefinitely until voters somehow manage to repeal it in the future.

The problem is not simply the tax increase itself.

The problem is credibility.

Fool Me Once

When Measure Z was originally sold to voters in 2016, Riverside residents were told the tax was necessary to stabilize finances, protect public safety, improve roads, and preserve basic city services.

Voters were told this was the responsible solution.

Since then, Riverside has collected hundreds of millions of dollars in Measure Z revenue.

Yet here we are again.

The City’s own records now show Measure Z revenues far exceeded original projections. Riverside has already spent more than half a billion dollars tied to Measure Z revenues and debt proceeds.

And despite that massive windfall:

• Our streets remain in poor condition.
• Infrastructure continues to lag behind comparable cities.
• Residents continue paying some of the highest combined local taxes and utility burdens in the region.
• Homelessness continues to expand.
• City Hall still claims it cannot maintain “basic services” without even more taxpayer money.
  

At some point, taxpayers have to stop asking how much money government needs and start asking:

Where did the money go?

Riverside Already Taxes Residents Aggressively

This is what makes the Measure Z campaign especially insulting.

Riverside residents already pay:

• A high local sales tax
• A Utility Users Tax on electricity, gas, water, and telecommunications
• Utility transfer revenues that support the General Fund
• Increasing fees and assessments across multiple services
  

The City already receives enormous revenue streams from residents and businesses.

Yet City Hall behaves as if taxpayers have somehow failed to “do their part.”

No.

Taxpayers have done their part.

City Hall has failed theirs.

Sales Taxes Are Regressive

One of the most dishonest talking points surrounding Measure Z is the attempt to minimize the impact of “just another quarter cent.”

That phrase intentionally ignores economic reality.

Sales taxes are regressive taxes.

Why?

Because working-class and middle-class families spend a far larger percentage of their income on taxable goods and daily necessities than wealthy households do.

A wealthy individual can absorb higher consumption taxes with minimal impact.

A senior on fixed income cannot.

A young family struggling with groceries, rent, insurance, utilities, and gasoline cannot.

A blue-collar worker living paycheck to paycheck absolutely feels it.

Every additional sales tax increase disproportionately harms the people least able to absorb it.

That is not “equity.”

That is economic irresponsibility.

If Riverside Is Thriving, Why Are Taxes Going Up?

This contradiction may be the most revealing part of the entire Measure Z campaign.

At the same time City Hall claims it desperately needs more tax revenue, the Mayor and City leadership constantly brag about their economic-development “successes.”

We hear about:

• billions in new development,
• rising property values,
• new jobs,
• downtown investments,
• economic growth,
• and Riverside “leveling up.”
  

Fine.

If all of that is true, then where is the benefit to taxpayers?

Where is the relief?

Where are the dramatically improved roads?

Where are the measurable improvements in basic city services?

Where is the operational efficiency?

Where is the reduction in long-term liabilities?

If Riverside’s economic-development claims are real, then taxpayers should be seeing stronger finances and better infrastructure — not another regressive tax increase.

Instead, residents are being told:

“Things are better than ever… but we still need more of your money.”

That is not fiscal leadership.

That is dependency.

The Streets Tell the Truth

Politicians can produce polished presentations and social media videos all day long.

But residents drive the streets every day.

And the streets tell the real story.

Riverside’s own pavement reports show the City still trails comparable California cities in road conditions. Years of Measure Z funding have not produced the kind of infrastructure transformation voters were promised.

The City itself admits significant portions of the street network remain in poor or very poor condition.

This matters because roads are one of the clearest indicators of local government competence.

Residents can physically see whether their taxes are producing results.

And many residents are asking a completely fair question:

After nearly a decade of Measure Z money, why are we still so far behind?

Measure Z Became a Habit

At this point, Measure Z no longer looks like a temporary emergency solution.

It looks like an addiction.

In my view, Measure Z has become crack to a City Hall addicted to easy revenue instead of disciplined governance.

Every time the City overspends, mismanages priorities, expands bureaucracy, or avoids structural reform, the answer becomes another plea for taxpayer money.

And every time, the emotional pressure campaign is rolled out:

• police,
• fire,
• homelessness,
• potholes,
• emergencies,
• fear,
• urgency,
• crisis.
  

Those are real issues.

But they are also being used as political shields to avoid accountability.

The Ethics and Oversight Problem

This is where the issue becomes bigger than taxes.

Riverside has spent years resisting meaningful independent oversight and transparency.

The City weakened ethics credibility.

The public demanded stronger oversight.

Residents pushed for a truly independent Inspector General.

Instead, Riverside created a structure that remains politically connected and dependent on the very leadership it may need to investigate.

At the same time, residents continue watching:

• ethics controversies,
• closed-session drama,
• instability surrounding the City Manager situation,
• and a political culture increasingly focused on optics, branding, and self-promotion rather than measurable governance reform.
  

Trust matters.

A general tax depends entirely on public trust.

And this City Hall has done very little to earn more of it.

Fear Campaigns Using Public Resources

Perhaps the most troubling part of this entire Measure Z push is the City-funded outreach campaign surrounding it.

When government uses taxpayer-funded communications, employees in uniform, emotional messaging, and fear-based presentations to push for higher taxes, serious ethical questions arise.

The taxpayer should never become the funding source for their own political persuasion campaign.

Government’s fiduciary duty is to taxpayers — not to protecting bureaucratic expansion, political legacies, or institutional addiction to growing revenue.

When City Hall uses fear to drive support for taxes instead of demonstrating operational excellence and accountability, it exposes the deeper problem:

They no longer trust their own performance to justify the ask.

Vote NO on Measure Z

This is not a vote against police officers.

This is not a vote against firefighters.

This is not a vote against city workers.

This is a vote against failed governance.

Vote NO because Riverside should already have better services after years of Measure Z money.

Vote NO because residents already carry enormous tax and utility burdens.

Vote NO because the roads still reflect years of underperformance.

Vote NO because Riverside taxpayers deserve accountability before another blank check.

Vote NO because a city that claims economic success should not simultaneously plead financial desperation.

And vote NO because if the Mayor, Council, and City leadership cannot govern responsibly without constantly demanding more taxpayer money, then Riverside does not need another tax increase.

It needs new leadership.

Fool me once was enough.