Finance committee forwards plan to explore a real property transfer tax after polling shows limited paths to two-thirds support

City staff and an outside pollster presented December 2025 survey results to the Santa Barbara City Finance Committee on Feb. 3, then the committee voted unanimously to send staffrecommendation to the full City Council to pursue further analysis and outreach on a proposed real property transfer tax.

"We are facing an approximate $6,000,000 general fund operating deficit in this current fiscal year, fiscal year 2026, and that deficit grows to $10,400,000 in fiscal year 2027," Finance Director Keith Demartini told the committee as he introduced the polling results. Staff framed the polling as part of options to close an anticipated budget gap.

Adam of FM3 Research, the pollster the city retained, said the survey (520 interviews, conducted Dec. 4—) targeted likely November 2026 voters and reported a full-sample margin of error of about +/-4.5 percentage points. FM3 tested two housing-related funding mechanisms: a transient occupancy tax (TOT) increase from 12% to 14% estimated to raise about $5.8 million annually, and a real property transfer tax of $9.50 per $1,000 on sales/transfers over $3 million estimated to raise about $5.1 million annually. A tested…