Measure H 2026 and fire: what is on your Nov. 3 ballot

The short answer

If "Measure H" sounds familiar, that is because the fire tax voters passed in March 2024 was also called Measure H.[1] Same letter, different measure.

The Measure H on this ballot keeps the countywide parks sales tax going after it expires in 2029, at the same rate, with no end date.[2] Part of the money pays to cut brush and fire fuel on parkland.

Santa Rosa, Windsor and Rohnert Park also have sales tax measures that name fire protection. The Schell-Vista Fire Protection District has a spending-limit measure. Below, each one in plain words.

Is the 2024 fire tax on the ballot?

No. The 2024 fire tax is a half-cent countywide sales tax for fire prevention, paramedics and disaster response. It runs until voters end it.[3]

Nothing on the November 3 ballot changes it.[4]

What does the 2026 Measure H do?

• Keeps an existing tax. Voters passed a one-eighth-cent parks sales tax in 2018 (called Measure M back then). It ends March 31, 2029. Measure H would continue it from April 1, 2029.[2]
• Same rate. One-eighth of a cent is 12.5 cents on every $100 of taxable shopping. You pay it today. The rate would not go up.[2]
• No end date. The 2018 tax was for 10 years. This one would run until voters end it.[2]
• About $15.5 million a year, the ballot question says. The county auditor estimates $17.1 million for the first full year, July 2029 to June 2030.[2]
• Needs two-thirds of voters. It is a special tax, meaning the money can only go to the uses the measure lists. Special taxes need two-thirds of the vote.[2]
• Oversight. A seven-member community committee reviews the spending, and an independent auditor checks it every year.[2]

How much of it goes to fire safety?

The measure includes a spending plan that splits the money four ways. The last bar, natural resources, is the part most tied to fire.

Fire work is named in two of the four parts:[2]

• Natural resources (18.3%). Lowering fire risk, fuel loads and invasive plants in county parks, and grazing to improve fire safety and biodiversity. Also creek and streamside work for fish, wildlife and water quality.
• City parks (33.3%). Each city can use its share to lower fire risk and fuel on city-owned open space.

The other two parts pay for park upkeep, safety, trails and public access.

The money goes to county and city parks, trails and preserves. It does not pay to clear private yards.

Who is for it, and who is against?

For: the argument for it in the county's official voter guide is signed by the leaders of Fire Safe Sonoma, Sonoma County Farm Trails and the Sonoma County Regional Parks Foundation, State Senator Mike McGuire, and a nonprofit leader. They say it keeps park and wildfire funding without raising the rate.[2]

Against: no one filed an argument against it in the official voter guide.[2]

Groups that publish voting picks: Bay Ballot counts 8 recommending yes, including the Sonoma County Democratic Party and Greenbelt Alliance, and 2 recommending no, Reform California, a conservative advocacy group, and the Sonoma County Republican Party. Reform California says it extends a costly sales tax despite wasteful government spending.[5]

Local sales tax measures that name fire

These three are general taxes. The money goes into the city or town general fund, and the council decides how to spend it each year. The fire items in each ballot question are stated goals, not set amounts. Each passes with a simple majority.[6][7][8]

• Measure L, Santa Rosa. Replaces the city's half-cent sales tax with a 1-cent tax, no end date. Total rate goes from 10% to 10.5%. About $46 million a year.[6] The ballot question names keeping all city fire stations open.[9]
• Measure I, Windsor. A new 1% sales tax, no end date. Total rate goes from 9.25% to 10.25%. About $5.7 million a year.[7] The ballot question names fire prevention and removing brush and flammable fuels.
• Measure K, Rohnert Park. A new half-cent sales tax, no end date, taking the city to the state's legal limit. About $5.5 million a year.[10] The ballot question names fire protection and wildfire preparedness.

The case for: Santa Rosa and Windsor say they face budget gaps and would cut services, including public safety, without the money. Rohnert Park says the money would keep 911, fire and police services going.[11][7][10]

The case against: critics in Windsor call Measure I a blank check, because nothing requires the money to go to the services listed. A Rohnert Park council candidate has raised the same worry about Measure K.[12][13]

Measure N: Schell-Vista Fire Protection District

Schell-Vista covers the countryside north and east of the City of Sonoma, and south of the city to Highway 37.[14]

Measure N does not create or raise a tax. State law caps how much a public agency may spend each year. Voters can raise that cap for up to four years at a time. Measure N keeps Schell-Vista's higher cap, so the district can keep spending its own fire tax, which district voters approved in 2018.[15][9]

The district's last cap measure, in 2023, needed a simple majority and had no argument filed against it.[15]

One state measure touches fire too

Proposition 45 would set deadlines under CEQA, the state law that makes agencies study a project's harm to the environment before approving it. It covers projects it calls essential. Its list includes wildfire risk reduction and fire stations, along with housing, water and others.[16]

Supporters, led by the California Chamber of Commerce, say it cuts delay and cost. Opponents, including environmental groups and some unions, say it weakens public and environmental review.[17] Our water sister site covers what it means for water projects.

What it means for you

• Your own lot does not change. None of these measures changes what you must do around your house. State law still asks for up to 100 feet of cleared space, called defensible space, around homes in the areas the state covers for wildfire and in Very High fire hazard zones. See who checks what in Sonoma County.
• Near a park? Fuel work on parkland does not clear your yard. The first 5 feet around your house are still up to you. Start with Zone 0 in Sonoma County.
• Read your own ballot. It lists only the measures where you live.
• A note from us: we do not tell anyone how to vote. We wrote this so the fire parts are clear before you decide.

Sources

1. Ballotpedia, Sonoma County Measure H, Fire Prevention and Disaster Response Sales Tax (March 2024), approved March 5, 2024.
2. County of Sonoma, Measure H voter guide pages, November 3, 2026: ballot question, County Counsel's impartial analysis, auditor's fiscal impact statement, argument in favor and spending plan.
3. County of Sonoma, Measure H voter guide pages, March 5, 2024 (the fire tax).
4. Sonoma County Registrar of Voters, local measures filed for November 3, 2026.
5. Bay Ballot, Sonoma County Measure H endorsements, as of October 29, 2026.
6. City of Santa Rosa, City Attorney's impartial analysis of Measure L, filed August 14, 2026.
7. Town of Windsor, Measure I: 2026 local sales tax measure.
8. Local News Matters (Bay City News), Rohnert Park Measure K, September 18, 2026 (majority vote, $5.5 million a year).
9. Local News Matters (Bay City News), Sonoma County November 3, 2026 ballot, with the text of each local ballot question.
10. City of Rohnert Park, 2026 Ballot Measure K information.
11. City of Santa Rosa, Measure L information page.
12. Concerned Windsor Citizens, No on Measure I.
13. The Press Democrat, Rohnert Park City Council candidates and Measure K, October 24, 2026.
14. County of Sonoma, Schell-Vista Fire Protection District Measure O voter guide pages, November 8, 2022 (district area).
15. County of Sonoma, Schell-Vista Fire Protection District Measure A voter guide pages, March 7, 2023 (spending limit, four-year maximum, simple majority).
16. California Secretary of State, Official Voter Information Guide, Proposition 45 analysis by the Legislative Analyst.
17. CalMatters, Prop 45 explained, October 2026.