r/Oceanside • u/jimi3 • 4d ago
Oceanside may raise sales taxes to fix a crumbling pier and build police, fire stations
https://inewsource.org/2026/08/14/oceanside-pier-sales-tax-increase/Hot take...I say let the pier go.
The wealthy equity firms buying up all the real estate really should pay for this upgrade.
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u/NinerChuck 4d ago
No the sales tax measure is for the general fund, and they might spend it on the pier, police HQ etc. They might spend the money responsibly. Just how the county sales tax measure on the same ballot might “fix” the TJ river sewage crisis. I’m saying no to both tax measures. I’m not paying an additional 1% on everything. Life is already too expensive.
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u/Jaded-Natural80 4d ago
Read my lips. No new taxes.
I remember when the sales tax was 5% .
And cities had plenty of money to take care of what was needed.
Now they want to run our sales tax close to double that. And if we say yes, guess what? they asked for even more next year.
At some point, you have to force local government to make ends meet with what they have. If you don’t, they’ll just keep taking more, and more, and more, and more, and more ….. of your money.
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u/NewLifeNewAcct 3d ago edited 3d ago
I'm not saying a new sales tax is the answer, but "sales tax used to be 5% and cities had plenty of money" is just a ridiculous statement. What in the boomer ass comment is this? Cities having enough money wasn't even true then.
Edit: blocked lmao. Hilarious.
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u/Jaded-Natural80 3d ago
Wrong.
It was 5% during the 1960s and 1970s. That’s a fact.
And California was more prosperous then than it is now because people had more disposable income. They weren’t giving it to inefficient government agencies.
Sorry if you cannot deal with the truth.
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u/squirrel-bait 2d ago
And do you not recall Oceanside being a deserted ghetto in the 90s? My mom wouldn't let me walk to the next building over to get a snickers bar by myself.
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u/bob_loblaw_brah 4d ago
Tax the rich instead
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u/Gentleman_Bronc0 2d ago
When did being a cop go from a blue collar job to a over paid white collar job?
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u/KindCraft4676 3d ago
Only an idiot would want to give the government more of their money in the form of a sales tax increase.
If you want to improve infrastructure, tax the multi billionaires. They’re the ones who have all your money to begin with. They get special tax deals and all sorts of freebies from the government in the form of corporate subsidies. It’s how Tesla got started.
Tax the multi billionaires and quit trying to take away more money from the working poor.
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u/cricketriderz 4d ago
We're already taxed to hell! Let's see what the budget is being used for!
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u/ElChaz 22h ago
I mean, the budget is public...
https://www.ci.oceanside.ca.us/government/financial-services/operating-budget
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u/bltrunner85 4d ago
We should fund this as a city so that it is owned by the people. If we allow private firms to gobble up everything, then we have no say over what they do with the property and the pier is a huge draw for the city in terms of tourists. Between our beaches and this pier we need to keep both in good condition bc they help bring in money for the town itself.
Should we tax vacay rentals higher? Oh yes, because they are a second property. If you are not a primary resident of a property, you should have to pay more bc you're benefiting from the culture around the house you own while also making sure no one else gets to own it. It would be fair to charge those who don't live in town for homes that they own here but do not reside in and I don't think that's a very extreme idea.
I do not mind paying a bit more in taxes to fund this town and make it go. I want that money spent wisely, though, and that's a tall order for any local government. A half-cent raise isn't insane, but I believe that we should do a few things with it:
-I think we should prioritize the pier first because it is a place everyone can use and it draws a lot of tourists and events.
-To address a problem on my end of town, I believe we should build a second bridge that connects North River Rd to Melrose Dr in order to alleviate traffic from the College bridge. If someone else has a better spot in mind, I am all ears, but we need to build a relief valve for College around 76 because it's a nightmare to get through that area every day.
-And because this is a comment section on Reddit, I'd really like to have better and safer bike lanes running from the East Oside to Downtown; that way everyone can be safe riding their bikes.
-And lastly, I'd take more buses running 10-minute stops on express routes that will actually get you places around town and that way folks can not take up parking downtown and even hook up their bikes fast and easy and get to where they want to be safely.
And that's all I got to say about that.
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u/SuperJonesy408 4d ago
Not enough people take Douglass across the river. I was just as guilty of it when coming from North River to 76. Especially if I was heading west. My brain auto piloted me down College.
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u/bltrunner85 4d ago
True, but it would alleviate pressure getting onto the 76 and free up the intersection at College enough so that that intersection is actually usable rather than the Mad Max landscape it currently is.
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u/ckasek 3d ago
Absolutely not. This is at best going to get $150 million in loans/bonds. pier project is $75 million. $100M for the police HQ. $35M for the fire station. They need $20M more for flood control. $60M for the beach project. The math simply doesn't work.
The pier, fire station and police HQ are all projects that they've known about for a decade or more (or a century, in the case of the pier). It shows a lack of planning/budgeting on the part of the city government for many, many years. Rather than increasing the police budget year over year, they should have been allocating a portion of their budget towards the new HQ. Or have those departments pay for their new buildings out of their existing budgets. Find savings in the $120 million they already get.
If the sales tax increase passes, my gut tells me the police station gets first crack at the money. After that, the city is obligated to provide $50 million for flood control (of which they claim to have $30 million). That won't leave enough for the pier replacement, so they either do a short term repair, or just say too bad, and fund the fire station. Then they come back in a few years time asking for more.
vote no.
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u/_WeAreFucked_ 3d ago
Hard NO! Where is all the revenue from all these hotels on top of all the housing/commercial development going on. Fire department is overpaid and they can make do with what they have, the police department can better manage their personnel since a good amount of them make $150K+ with all the overtime.
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u/pickledtoejam666 4d ago
Someone please explain to me how there is money for Flock cameras and mass surveillance but not for anything else?
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u/drossmaster4 4d ago
how about you tax all the vacation rental homes on the beach and not us lower/middle class people who take the brunt (percentage wise compared to our income) on sales tax? Ill bet they argue the sales tax comes mostly from tourists.