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Council places half-cent Cubberly sales-tax measure on November ballot, adopts advisory spending guidelines
Summary
The City Council voted unanimously to place a half-cent transactions and use tax on the November 3, 2026 ballot (with an automatic quarter-cent fallback if state cap change fails) and adopted advisory spending guidelines describing intended uses for acquisition and initial implementation of the Cubberly Conceptual Master Plan.
The Palo Alto City Council voted on June 8 to place a proposed half-cent transactions and use tax on the November 3, 2026 ballot to fund purchase of school-district property and initial improvements at the Cubberly Community Center. Staff said the measure is a general tax but the council adopted advisory spending guidelines to communicate the council's intended uses if voters approve the measure.
"After two years of community engagement and polling, tonight we launch the formal election timeline," staff said. The ordinance includes a built-in fallback: if state legislation to raise the local sales-tax cap is not enacted, the measure will automatically default to the maximum currently allowed (a quarter-cent) so the city can still move forward without returning to council for a technical change.
The council also designated argument authors and approved a non-binding advisory resolution that lists intended spending priorities, including purchasing the PAUSD land, and beginning infrastructure and program investments outlined in the conceptual master plan. Ad hoc committee councilmembers summarized community outreach and explained why the advisory document exists: the measure is a general tax but the resolution tells voters how the council intends to prioritize proceeds.
Community groups and program partners that testified during public comment voiced broad support and described partnership commitments to operate programs at Cubberly. Library volunteers and long-time program operators said they want assurances the site will continue to host existing community programs and requested a careful transition plan to avoid displacing current tenants during construction.
The council vote was unanimous to place the measure on the ballot and adopt the advisory spending guidelines. With the vote, staff will submit ballot language and proceed to county deadlines for filing ballot material and impartial analyses.
