San Mateo County has spent more than $1 billion through the Measure K sales tax — and its predecessor, Measure A — to support local services and facilities since 2012. Of that, around $129 million has helped finance affordable housing projects and an additional $200 million was spent on other housing or homelessness initiatives.
Those tallies come from the most recent annual audit of Measure K, a countywide, half-cent tax on sales in San Mateo County that was approved by voters through Measure A in 2012 and subsequently extended another 20 years to 2043 under the 2016 Measure K ballot measure. The audit examined sales tax receipts for the 2025-2026 fiscal year that ended June 30, and results were presented to a public oversight committee on Nov. 5.
Billed on its website as “local funds for local needs,” Measure K has financed a range of services to boost emergency preparedness — such as a new fire station in Pescadero — and to help families with things like emergency funds for food assistance during last year’s federal government shutdown. Under the Measure K ballot language, voters approved the sales tax “to ensure San Mateo County quality of life by retaining/improving critical facilities/services,” which then listed a range of target areas such as building housing, combating human trafficking and enhancing public transit.
Today, Measure K also contributes funds directly to organizations like Samaritan House, an agency that provides food, housing and healthcare services to 32,000 clients annually. In recent years, Measure K has funded an electrical generator at Samaritan to ensure that food services aren’t disrupted during an emergency. It has also provided funds to bolster its emergency financial housing assistance for families, according to Laura Bent, CEO Samaritan House.
“Measure K is just critical to our ability as an organization at Samaritan to meet the basic needs in real time,” said Bent in an interview earlier this year. “It really does directly impact whether families stay housed, whether children have enough to eat, and whether individuals can move out of a crisis situation into more of a stable situation.”
In the most recent fiscal year, July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026, the county obtained $119.8 million in revenue and spent $114.8 million on projects, according to the audit. The Department of Housing had the highest expenditures, at $32.4 million, followed by the Human Services Agency at nearly $30 million.
Since 2012, Measure K has generated $1.27 billion in sales tax revenue, and the county has spent a little more than $1 billion of that money, leaving $263 million in “rollover” dollars, according to the audit report. Of that, $200 million is earmarked for specific projects that have not yet spent the money allocated to them. Affordable housing projects account for a large chunk of these allocated-but-unspent Measure K funds since developers generally need to obtain additional financing before beginning construction of the projects, said Roberto Manchia, the county’s chief financial officer at the Nov. 5 meeting.
“Until that borrowing is met and the (developers) can move the stakes in the ground and actually move the project, the funding does not move,” Manchia said.
The audit states that $17.7 million is meant to meet the county’s 15% reserve requirement and $45.8 million is available to spend. Some of the available funds, Manchia suggested at the Nov. 5 meeting, may be put to a new use: funding essential services in the county’s budget.
“Prudency has done us well over the course of time,” Manchia said.
Ongoing dispute with state
In recent years, San Mateo County has faced a budget shortfall due to state Vehicle License Fee funds that the county and its cities say it is owed. The shortfall is due to a flawed state funding formula related to the public school system. The county estimates that it is still owed at least $136 million from the state for fiscal year 2025-2026 alone, and a shortfall could continue in the current fiscal year.
In a bill passed by the Legislature in September, the state committed to working with the county to fix the issue. Still, no solution exists currently, and county officials are considering a scenario where the state does not backfill the money in a timely manner, Manchia said.
The state’s structural state deficit problem, a new incoming governor and the departing state Department of Finance director create more uncertainty about how the state will handle the issue, Manchia added at the meeting.
As a result, county officials may reallocate Measure K funds to pay for core county services typically covered by the county’s General Fund, Manchia said on Nov. 5 and in a March memo to the Board.
“The current budget structure for the county … has VLF in it because we feel that it is due to us,” said Manchia. He later added, “There’s an issue of ongoing revenue. The state has a lot of one-time money. They just don’t have a lot of ongoing money.”
How Measure K spending is determined
Measure K funds are awarded through several mechanisms, and the county Board of Supervisors must approve all spending.
In 2023, the Board approved three priority areas for funding: children, families and seniors; housing and homelessness; and emergency preparedness. A large portion of the funds are allocated to ongoing services and programs in those areas.
In past years, the county has also issued notice of funding opportunities through a competitive grant process in which organizations request funds for specific purposes. In 2024, $34.5 million was issued to community organizations through this process.
County departments can issue a request for proposal or a notice of funding availability for a specific service or program. The county’s affordable housing fund, for example, distributes Measure K funds through a competitive application process. In August, the Board approved over $24 million in Measure K funding for six affordable housing developments.
The county also awards Measure K funds for service gaps identified as critical needs, such as the $900,000 in food assistance dispersed last year during the federal government shutdown. Finally, the five Board supervisors each have $1 million over two years in discretionary Measure K funds that they can recommend to the Board for approval. Those recommendations are generally approved, Manchia said, though some require additional discussion.
“Every discretionary Measure K grant recommendation is vetted by county counsel to make certain it complies with Measure K rules, and then after the county counsel approves it as legal, goes to the full Board for a vote whether or not to make the grant,” said Supervisor Ray Mueller in an email earlier this year.
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