Lynette Niebla
IMPERIAL COUNTY, Calif. (KYMA) — A major public safety decision is heading to Imperial County voters this fall as local first responders push for a new dedicated funding source. Known as Measure S, the local public safety sales and use tax initiative will appear on the upcoming November ballot, giving residents the ultimate power to decide how local emergency services are funded for the next two decades.
If approved by voters in the general election on November 3, 2026, Measure S will impose a county-wide, half-cent sales tax for the next 20 years.
The initiative is projected to generate roughly $20 million annually. This funding will be exclusively dedicated to supporting the Imperial County Sheriff’s Office and the Imperial County Fire Department.
Local law enforcement and fire officials state that the financial boost is critical to keeping up with the demands of the region. Imperial County covers a vast geographic footprint, presenting unique challenges for emergency personnel who are often stretched thin across both rural and urban areas.
“We brought it forward because we want some sustainability in public safety and infrastructure,” said Imperial County Sheriff’s Office Undersheriff Robert Benavidez. “Specifically trying to improve our community needs, trying to improve what we can offer for the 4,500 square miles that we cover as a whole.”
Benavidez emphasized that the departments function as a unified team to protect the region. “We are a force multiplier as a whole, not just a sheriff’s office with the fire department—we are a force multiplier for every community in the county and so our utilization stretches far and wide for that necessity to utilize on us and improve what we have and what we can offer.”
According to officials, the revenue generated by Measure S will directly fund concrete infrastructure and emergency response operations. Benavidez noted that the tax revenue would help support “at least nine buildings and at least 11 apparatus, which are fire engines, for our community throughout the 4,500 square miles.”
Importantly, the initiative includes strict legal safeguards regarding how the revenue is handled.
“There are some voter protections as this goes,” Benavidez explained. “This money cannot be re-allocated. It can only be used for public safety needs as written in: the 911 response, whether it be the coroner’s office that we’re looking to obtain, the emergency operation center that we’re looking to obtain, [or] the regional dispatch that we’re looking to obtain as a result of this.”
Imperial County Fire Department Deputy Chief Cedric Ceseña highlighted that while residents already pay sales tax, none of those current funds are strictly locked in for county-wide public safety.
Ceseña added that these services protect every resident, even those living within established city limits who may assume they only rely on municipal departments.
“We feel that as citizens, we not only have the point of view as a citizen, but we do also have the behind-the-scenes look, and that’s what gives us a perspective as to what the needs of public safety in Imperial County are,” Ceseña said. “We all travel to the safety of our cities, and we are on those county roads, on those state highways. That help is going to be coming from the sheriff’s office, from the Imperial County Fire Department.”
Because of this constant usage, keeping emergency fleets operational is paramount. “The goal is that not only our facilities but also our vehicles—our apparatuses, our fire engines, big fire trucks with the ladders on top—that those are also being replaced on the schedule and it’s more conducive to the equipment arriving to the scene,” Ceseña said.
To put the financial impact into perspective for everyday consumers, local fire officials are comparing the small tax increase to everyday pocket change.
“I love my coffee and I know what it cost to get a Starbucks in the morning and I’m gonna tell you that the difference in the price of that Starbucks every morning for a citizen of Imperial County would be four cents,” Ceseña said. “That’s what we’re asking the public to help us help them by allowing us to have those four cents.”
Acknowledging public skepticism toward tax initiatives, public safety leaders hope the tangible improvements will demonstrate total accountability.
“The public is very leery. They don’t trust government for the work that they’re doing,” Ceseña admitted. “However, we want to build that trust. We want to make sure that they get to see the product of those four cents that they put forward every morning. One day, they’ll get to see those fire stations, they’ll see the fire trucks responding or going down the road.”
Voters will make their final decision when they head to the polls for the general election on Tuesday, November 3.
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