Measure E brought in $34.6 million in Elk Grove in FY 2024-25, oversight panel reports
Measure E is a sales tax — a type of tax policy analysts describe as regressive because lower-income households typically spend a larger share of their income on taxable necessities
Elk Grove’s voter-approved one-cent sales tax generated $34.6 million in fiscal year 2024-25, with most spending directed to public safety initiatives and rapid emergency response, according to an annual report delivered to the City Council on Feb. 25.
The Measure E Citizens’ Oversight Committee, created by the City Council after voters approved the tax in November 2022, reviewed revenues, expenditures, and the city’s independent audit and delivered an independent summary of how the money was used. The committee’s role includes reviewing audited financial statements tied to Measure E and evaluating whether proposed spending aligns with community-identified priorities.
Under the tax-sharing agreement, 50 percent of Measure E revenue went to the city, 30% to the Cosumnes Community Services District, and 20 percent was reserved for future priority projects. The city reported that $17.3 million was allocated to Elk Grove community service funds, $10.4 million was remitted to the Cosumnes CSD, and $6.9 million was set aside for future projects.
City officials told the council that the “future priority projects” reserve totaled about $15.3 million at the end of the fiscal year, and the city also set aside $4 million for the development of a permanent homeless shelter.
In all, the city and Cosumnes CSD spent about $17.6 million in FY 2024-25 to advance Measure E priorities, including staffing, equipment, and software, according to the staff report.
The largest spending category was crime reduction and rapid response — about $11.85 million in actual expenditures — followed by street maintenance at about $1.59 million, traffic improvements at about $1.04 million, and parks maintenance at about $1.34 million.
The city’s report highlighted specific spending outcomes, including contracting for a dedicated community prosecutor, expanding police dispatch staffing and specialized enforcement, adding license plate readers, and deploying a “drone as a first responder” program.
On the fire side, Cosumnes CSD reported adding 15 firefighters, upgrading station alerting systems, and acquiring emergency response vehicles. Additionally, parks and recreation efforts included playground surface replacements, irrigation controller upgrades, and trail and accessibility improvements.
Both the city and Cosumnes CSD received “clean” audit opinions with no material findings, the report stated, and the oversight committee reviewed and approved the audits before presenting its annual update to the council.
Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen and her four councilmen praised the report. They all described Measure E-funded programs as improving quality of life, citing public safety performance and homelessness response as visible results.
Still, even as officials lauded the outcomes, Measure E is a sales tax — a type of tax policy analysts describe as regressive because lower-income households typically spend a larger share of their income on taxable necessities, meaning the tax takes a bigger bite of their earnings than it does for higher-income households.
